Guus Bosman

Yesterday afternoon we went for a walk and Nora picked up a stick "for the fireplace". On 13th Street a big but friendly dog passed by us and the owner said: "he's jumpy but very friendly". When the dog passed Nora he saw her stick... and grabbed it. Nora was very surprised and didn't want to let go, but the dog was stronger. The owner apologized and returned Nora's stick.

After Nora left for Bulgaria we cleaned up the various piles of sticks near the front and backdoors. Well, they are back.

Two weeks ago I went to a bicycle store on H Street to take a second look at a bicycle that I had seen there. Jaap was there also and it was nice to get his advice. Nora looked around at everything and I had her sit on the Dutch bike for a little bit.

The bike we looked at was an Oma bicycle from Gazelle. It was a 51 cm frame -- too small for me -- but already felt awesome. So much nicer than the leaned-over style of riding. The largest Oma frame Gazelle has is 57 cm which is still a little too short for my 6'2 length, so ultimately I decided not to get a Gazelle. I found a store in Amsterdam that builds great bicycles and ships to the United States for a reasonable cost. So in two months or so I'll see the new bike appear

We said goodbye this morning to my parents, after five wonderful weeks together. They looked after Leo and Adrian for the first three weeks and then Nora joined their gang. Her Dutch was a little shaky the first few days but she quickly found her mo-yo back. Every morning there would be two new books from Oma on the living room table.

Yesterday my father baked another apple pie -- the fourth one in a month -- and we had sushi for dinner.

I always have a lump in my throat when saying goodbye but this time it was quite literal. My parents like to try various fruits and this morning we cut a "jack fruit". I tried a small piece and it tasted good; a little like melon. It tickled a bit in my throat, just like pineapple sometimes does... and then my throat started swelling up. A weird feeling, but nothing too serious, thankfully.

Around noon I drove my parents to the airport and at Dulles we said goodbye. Nora came with me which was nice.

The children are getting so much love from Opa & Oma.

Here is Oma reading to them, while in the mean time maneuvering the book away from Leo's legs.