We didn’t have much sun today. I had plans to go to Keukenhof Gardens with my English friend, Eliza. At the last moment, I checked to see if dogs were welcome and this being the Netherlands, they were! So long as you agreed to keep them leashed and use poop bags. So, we piled into Astrid and headed off to Lisse, where the gardens are. We spent a good three hours strolling through the gardens. I had my mom’s camera and attempted to capture the right pictures. But in reality, I was just snapping away. The gardens are beautiful even though they aren’t in complete full bloom. They are open approximately two months out of the year. The overcast weather didn’t stop people from coming but the crowds were slightly less than if it had been sunny.

 

The boys did very well. Henry found an entire stroopwafel and ate it up before George could even notice. And they really liked the portion of the park that recreated an old fishing area where there were plenty of bits of herring and beenham that people had let spill as they sampled them. And we had some fun moments posing by the oversized klompen, much to the delight of several other tourists who asked if they could take pictures of the boys inside the giant wooden shoes.

 

Tomorrow night is the Boy George concert! I am super excited! Of course, I have to go to work first. Tomorrow starts my mindfulness course. They are offering at work for 8 weeks to help build mindfulness skills. It is good to know that among my colleagues, many of us have to learn this through a training session 😉 smart people need help with things.

 

The boys are snoozing after their mega walk today. No signs of needing Pepto Bismol yet. Although George is snoring pretty heavily. He sounds like he might be talking.

 

My toaster oven was delivered yesterday. Finally, after a month! I tried it out to cook one of my Tofurkey quiches that I brought back from Seattle and it works very well.

 

Friday was the bike commute today. Beatrix and I made the trip in 61 minutes each way. And I had a great time listening to my headphones and singing out loud through the park. It was fun to notice the reactions of the people passing me on their bike while I was singing along to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis at a pretty loud volume and no doubt, off-key. I didn’t notice a large number of birds falling from the sky so I think I can say that no wildlife was harmed during my commute.

 

Mom and I talked about visiting Keukenhof. And I am sorry that we didn’t get a chance to do it. She would have loved all of the gardens. However, I can also hear her clearly commenting on the arrangements of the flowers and how she would have staged them differently. And if she had been there, I wouldn’t have been anywhere near the camera, for sure!