Dear Friends and Family,
The recent past was dominated by our epic voyage to California.
I could spend some time explaining who's who to those of you who don't know the intricacies of my family, but suffice it to say there were at least 6 different households represented at the "camp" (my parents' house) and 8 people there under 1.5 meters tall (Dutchies: not including me, ha,ha.).
Cousin Camp was amazing. We laughed, we cried, we bumped our foreheads. It was very important for Zephyr to get some exposure to pure English, and he's been speaking a little more of it to me since we got back. "No way, Jose" and "I'm making a racket" have become staples in his patois.
It was also quite a trip for Zola, who was stunningly well-behaved. She's gone through a dramatic number of changes in the past month: started grabbing stuff, tasting stuff, first tooth, second tooth, eating solids, and now even crawling a bit if you could call it that. She raises her butt in the air and then smooshes her face (somewhat painfully by appearances) along the floor. All she needs is a little more upper arm strength and she'll be fully mobile.
I've uploaded a few more photos of cousin camp to Picasa. I'm trying very hard to limit the number of pictures I produce, but if parents are interested in more of their brood I have about a bajillion outtakes. Admittedly a lot of Zeph, Anna and Jack Jack compared to everybody else.
Lambert, my father in law, got a few key people I missed, though. I recommend this album he's put up on Picasa for the photo junkies. Although it's AmSterling-centric, there are some nice shots of cousin camp, plus the old house on La Para, and a side trip to Big Basin with Rachel. Plus many waterfowl in Pajaro. Anyhow, Picasa makes it easy to skim though and see what grabs your interest.
Unfortunately I didn't get to see some old friends who I would have liked to hook up with (Jason Gray & family) and at least one other person that got in touch out of the blue (Jason Slater, who plays in a thrash metal band). I think he might have seen me on Facebook...
I didn't apply for any jobs or do any interviews while I was out there, if anybody was wondering. No time. At least my cousin Lisa (who has connections in the biz) gave me a few job-hunting tips...cousin camp isn't just for the rug-rats, you know.
I thought it was pretty stimulating to see other parenting styles up close and personal. Especially American parenting styles, for a change. And of course the kids are a rogue's gallery, a Doestoevski novel, a living study in nature vs. nurture ... pick your comparison, but in sum its fun to see them all thriving and being their individual little selves.
After cousin camp we went to a condo we rented on the beach at Pajaro Dunes, where we saw seals on the first day, then dolphins on the second, then a gray whale (!) on the third, breaching (!!)
Never have seen anything like that before.
(and the kids got to watch "The Cat in The Hat" movie.)Then it was a long long flight back to Amsterdam, where we were greeted by a dismal cold rain. Zephyr hailed it like an old friend, and dashed gleefully outside to stand in a downpour. You can take the boy out of Holland, but you can't take the Holland out of the boy.
Zola had a trial run at day care last week which went well, which means that Hinke will be starting work this week (3 days/week) if all goes well.
We briefly saw Sidart Deb and his wife Celine and son Sascha, who came up from Paris to say hibye to Anjuli (his sister) who's now returning to journalism grad school at Cal. Thanks for the "Pirates Don't Wear Diapers" book, Anjuli, it was a big hit at cousin camp.
(Sascha, approx 9 mos)Sascha looks as much like Sidart as Zola does me (poor thing, Zola, she'll grow out of it). Sascha's parents claim he's a handful, but he seemed like a pretty relaxed kid to me. On the other hand, I thought the bags under the parents' eyes were pretty noticeable.
(el Cid)
(Anjuli)
(Celine, la Parisienne)Enough for now!
Love to all,
Toby
Next: The Hemonyhouse is a changin'
