August was a full month of activities! The three younger kids enjoyed three weeks of swimming lessons, which kept our mornings busy. We would rush home from lessons to take Kimball to work each day. The kids all improved their swimming skills and that's the important thing.
Swimming with the Dolsons.
Rebecah had an MRI of her head and neck this month. It was a LONG procedure, much longer than either of us expected. I was anticipating a 30 minute MRI, it ended up being almost 2 hours and that was after an hour wait. She was a little nervous, and didn't like the IV. Everything checked out okay.
Annika continued her orthodontic journey and had her braces put on this month. She handled the initial braces pain really well and she didn't complain very much at all.
Kimball's birthday was a little different this year since he left for the Netherlands the afternoon of his birthday.
Kimball turned 17! It's hard to believe that I have a child that is 17. Kimball is growing up to be a great young man. He has his difficulties, like most teens, but I love him! He has worked really hard this summer at two jobs to earn money for his exchange trip. He loves cycling, Guardians baseball and playing ping pong baseball with Lincoln. He also likes to go on walks with his mom!
We celebrated Kimball's birthday in stages. We had his birthday dinner the day before his actual birthday so we could have birthday leftovers for lunch on his birthday. He had his usual spaghetti carbonara and chocolate cake with powdered sugar for dessert.
The morning of Kimball's birthday Kimball got up at 8:00 so he could spend more time with the family before he left for the airport. Lincoln was still sleeping, but I gave Kimball permission to wake Lincoln up. Here they are waking up on the couch.
Birthday breakfast--white chocolate cranberry scones. A twelve year tradition!
Kimball got a signed Mark Cavendish yellow jersey for his birthday. Mark Cavendish is Kimball's favorite cyclist and some would argue he is the best cyclist of all time. This summer Mark Cavendish won his thirty-fifth Tour de France stage win, the most wins of any other cyclist. Cavendish is a sprinter and usually wore the green (sprinting) jersey in the Tour de France, but for one day in his entire career Cav wore the yellow jersey and that's the jersey Kimball wanted.
After Kimball's birthday lunch we headed to the airport to see him off. I'm not going to sugar coat things. It was HARD to see Kimball leave. I cried a good portion of the day before and after he left. It's hard on my mother heart to have one of my babies leave for 10 months even though I am happy for him to have this opportunity in the Netherlands!
Checking his bags at the airport. We really had to juggle the things in his suitcases so they would both be under the 50 pound weight limit.
There was no one at security so we took time to take a few pictures and pass out hugs.
Poor Lincoln! He was already crying! Aside from me, Lincoln misses Kimball the most. Kimball is a good big brother to Lincoln.
After Kimball made it through security he turned and waved one last time to us and walked away. It was heartbreaking and the kids and I started crying. Good thing no one was around!!
Kimball's flights were both delayed. If his first flight had to be delayed, it was a blessing his second flight was delayed or else he would have missed his connecting flight from Washington D.C. to Amsterdam. It was a long day of traveling for him. His layover in D.C. was delayed almost 5 hours. He arrived safely in Amsterdam around noon on August 24. He was met by the Netherlands Rotary district. They are known for their bright orange coats. His host family, Chris and Gea Smits, and their daughter, Lysenne, were also there to greet him. The Smits seem really nice and have been very welcoming to Kimball. Lysenne will leave in September to be an exchange student in Italy.
Dinner with the Smits! Kimball said the food has been wonderful.
Walking with my girls.
Kimball gave his Cleveland Browns bedding to Lincoln. Lincoln was so excited! I had to convince him to let me wash it before putting it on his bed.
Joseph had a few days off at the end of August so we took a few day trips. Our first trip was to Watkins Glen State Park. Annika, Lincoln and I hadn't been there since 2016 and Eden had never been there. It is such a beautiful place! I enjoyed the walk and the weather was perfect. Joseph and the kids also did some swimming at the pool in the park.
Lincoln found this unique car and wanted a picture.
We recreated this picture from 8 years ago. We replaced Kimball and Rebecah with Eden. It's hard to believe that Lincoln and Annika are older now that Kimball was in that picture.
Our other day trip was to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. I hadn't been to the zoo for a few years so it was time to go again. We have a small zoo and we were able to see everything in an hour and a half before everyone got tired.
Eating at Applebee's. The kids participated in the summer reading program through the library and had coupons for free kid's meals at Applebee's.
A few points of interest about the Netherlands that have shocked Kimball. Everyone bikes or walks. Very few people own cars. Cars never have the right of way in his town. There are no stoplights in his town of 12,000 people. Some roads are for pedestrians and bikers only. Kimball's school is a mile away and he will bike to school. The house he is living in is in the heart of the city. It's four stories with two rooms on each floor. He sent a video of his host family's house and it's so neat. Very few homes/businesses have air conditioning. It's usually in the 70s during the summer, but it will get into the 80s and then the people are uncomfortable. Kimball said the day it was in the 80s he had a hard time sleeping. It's very humid there, too. Like a lot of Europe, most of the stores are specialty stores. There is a butcher shop, bakery, cheese store, cleaning store, etc.
Kimball really misses milk and speaking Spanish. He usually drinks a gallon of milk in 1-1.5 days. Milk is really expensive over there so he hasn't had any milk his first week. He is enjoying the food, culture and climate. School starts for him on September 3.
Kimball decided to bike to the beach. This first picture is the road leading to the beach and the second picture is the beach. Obviously, this isn't a touristy beach. Kimball said he was standing on a large fence of dirt to help contain the water if there is flooding. Amsterdam is filled with windmills for a good reason.... to keep the water out of the country (the windmills drain the water). The extra water is diverted into canals. Kimball is in the town of Franeker and it is full of canals diverting excess water. It's so fascinating.
Our summer vacation is coming to a close. The kids all attended back to school barbecues this week to find their classrooms and see their new schools. School starts September 4.
