Guus Bosman

I worked til late last night. I was done at 12:30 am but then I didn't sleep very well. Nevertheless we had a nice morning together. Adrian woke up calling "Oma! Oma" and while Leo was calling for me, Mieke came to pick him up also which gave me another 45 minutes in the morning.

We went to the Roosevelt Memorial and MLK Memorial. We saw ducks, geese and a big turtle.

It often taken Leo a little while to get used to new people around him, but he's getting very comfortable with Opa and Oma.

Here you see Leo chasing Opa, after Opa was chasing Leo.

Adrian is quicker to adjust to new crowds and he loves hanging out with his grandparents. "Oma! Lezen!"

Such a special treat -- Opa and Oma are here!

The parade in Lyon Village is always a nice event. Last year the guys were still in their stroller, and on the pictures you can see that they weren't even wearing outdoor shoes yet.

This year I took them on the bakfiets which was a lot of fun.

This morning we took the car and went to Chestnut Hills Park, a few minutes away from Heidelberg bakery.

It's a really nice park, with a good amount of spade and we had a great morning. There were a lot of toy cars in the park, and I think Leo and Adrian managed to get them all in the same place. Nora played with a group of other kids.

We walked to Clarendon this morning to see the The Armed Forces Cycling Classic, a bicycling race on Clarendon and Wilson Blvd.

It's a big race, with professional riders and it was fun to watch the race and the things around it, such as the TV cameras and all the big cars and police trucks etc.

Earlier in the morning the fire brigade came to check out something at the YMCA so the kids saw a lot of firetrucks today.

Today is a day off for us, and Monday is Memorial Day so it's a nice long weekend. A welcome break after a few hectic weeks.

The YMCA is getting a new gas line, so for the last few days there have been a few diggers and trucks at the street behind our house, much to the delight of the kids.

We had a minor social event this morning. Over breakfast Adrian was playing with the police car (a $0.50 purchase at King's Day) and the police horse carrier (a gift from Opa & Oma that has survived rough treatment pretty well).

After breakfast, Adrian left the police car alone and Leo saw his chance and took it. So after the diaper change, when Adrian came back in the living room, his police car was in his brother's hands, much to his chagrin. Since Leo was playing with it, Adrian had to find something else to do, but he wasn't very happy. A few minutes later, Leo was done playing with it, and came to Adrian with a big smile: "Adrian pie-pie auto" and gave the car to Adrian.

In the afternoon we went to Home Depot and got flowers for the deck. It was late and we decided to buy a take-out chicken, which the kids liked.

When we were leaving the highway, this dialogue ensued:

Leo: Bijna thuis.
Adrian: Nee bijna thuis! Kip kopen!
Nora: Patat kopen.
Adrian: Nee 'tat kopen! Kip kopen!

Joost & Ankie and the kids are back in Rotterdam. After they left Arlington they went to New York City where they bicycled around Battery Park and saw the Brooklyn Bridge. They also visited Jonathan at his work in Manhattan, very cool.

It was heartwarming see them in person again, and we all had a really good time.

It was a lot of fun going to King's Day with Joost and Ankie. The kids had a blast and Nora did more activities than in other years.

I bought several books but not as many as in previous years -- we are pretty well supplied by now.

It was very warm. In the end we went to the small playground overlooking the activities, where we had our sandwiches and water.