Tag: Birthdays

Marco arrived on Friday evening from the UK and Saskia, Sylvie and Benjamin had made a jar for Opa containing 80 candies as well as some notes and drawings they had made. That should last Opa a while.  I had slept at Opa’s house for the last two weeks but with Marco’s arrival I was banished to a hotel on Friday night. Not that I minded.  Room service breakfast on Saturday morning was very welcome.

On Saturday March 17th we celebrated Opa Jansie’s 80th birthday at Restaurant de Spikke in Heerde. Marco had invited most people online a few weeks ago and I had invited some others we hadn’t reached online earlier this week in person.

Almost everyone who was invited came to the party and I was glad I had ordered as much cake as I did. People had a really good time. Opa Jansie’s two brothers: Herman and Jan were both there. It was a very long time ago since they were together and we’ve been able to take a few photos.

On Sunday morning it was departure time for me. Home with KL601 from Amsterdam to LA.

Today is Jansie’s birthday. He’s turning 80. Last night we celebrated with a pre-birthday dinner at a restaurant near Epe. We drank a few glasses of wine at home afterwards. Today there were some early neighbors bearing small gifts and best wishes. The cleaning lady also found his wallet that he had been missing for a week. He has developed the habit of hiding things and forgetting where they are.

Earlier this week we also started to invite people for his birthday party this Saturday. For the first time in many years he spoke to his brother Herman who is coming as well.

Already a week has gone by since I arrived in The Netherlands. I’ve taken my Dad for a day in Germany and Deventer. At my favorite men’s store we got him a few nice shirts and jacket for his birthday.

Later this week I went to visit the Kröller-Müller museum in Otterloo. It has the second largest collection of Van Gogh paintings.

On Friday night I spent the night in The Hague and visited the Escher Museum. Next week is my dad’s birthday and there’s still a bit of preparation needed.