Before the boys go to bed, they drink their bottler in their bouncy chairs.

Recently, Nora started joining them with a glass of milk.

Last weekend Nora had a cold; this weekend it's Leo's turn. He isn't bothered by it too much right now but he cried a few times at night.

Today Oma Bosman passed away. She was 91 years old.

Oma was a wonderful grandmother to us and we loved her very much. The happy times we spent with her are precious memories.

My earliest memories were about reading Suske and Wiske, and eating "oma kaas" for breakfas. Later, drinking tea together and just having a good time. Peter's picture here captures it very beautifully.

When I was older, we would go for dinners at her place and talk. She visited Sasha and me in Haarlem with Paula, bringing nice plants, and she came to my graduation party.

The last time I saw her was in 2014 when we visited her. While calling become impossible later on, for many years we would talk on the phone and she would always pick up the same way: "Oh, helemaal uit Amerika?". I'll miss her.

At 7.00 pm Nora, Leo and I biked to the library where the Arlington Bicycle Committee was meeting with members of the County. The plans for the Quincy protected bike lane are making some progress but it's still a long time away, it seems.

It was fun to attend this outdoor meeting. When we started everyone introduced themselves and everybody was very friendly to Nora.

"What's your name?"
"Nora."
"And where do you live?"
"Virginia"
"Ah so you'll represent Virginia!"

Leo was getting a little bored at some point and we left the meeting a little early, but it was a good meeting.

We celebrated our 18 years together with a nice dinner at Lyon Hall.

Nora went back to school today. She was very happy to go back: "papa ik ben zo blij dat ik weer naar school ga!"

On the way to school we practiced a little bit how to talk about her summer -- she wasn't quite confident about her English after such a long summer, it seems.

I choked up for a few moments -- time goes by so fast -- but it's wonderful she's growing and doing so well.

This was the first visit for Leo and Adrian, and the first time they saw cows and horses and ducks -- they loved it. Of all the things, the tractor made the biggest impression. Adrian in particular was mesmerized.

We've been to the park with Nora before but she didn't remember much.

The weather was good -- we arrived around 4.00 pm so the worst heat was over -- and we had a nice time. After an hour or so we went back for everyone's naps.

Opa and Oma are busy during the day. They take care of the kids, make meals and also find time for things around the house. We're very grateful and they are having a good time.

Tonight I brought a spade, I actually borrowed it from the library. We've been doing some yard work and now we hope to plant two small trees.

I brought the spade home on my bike, that was fun.

At the checkup the pediatrician asked us to estimate the boys' vocabulary. I said "30", which the doctor thought is respectable, but when we came home I wanted to be sure. So here it is, in all its glory -- the Dutch words Leo and Adrian know so far. Their Bulgarian is a little behind since they've been immersed in Dutch for the past month.

Leo actively uses 32 words, Adrian 27.

Sasha and Nora are back -- I'm very happy. Their plane landed at 7.00 pm and an hour later I met them at the international arrivals. It was so great to see them.

Last year when Nora returned from her summer in Bulgaria, she had forgotten a lot of her Dutch. Not this time.

She talked and talked and described how she had made a cake (we heard the whole recipe), how she had a kyufte with fries in Kopritsita, how she liked the trampoline... it's wonderful to talk with her. Some of her words are a little rusty. Instead of "speelgoed" she said "de dingen voor spelen" en instead of "verdrietig" she used "muchno" but otherwise she was fluent.

When we came home she was "shy" for maybe 5 seconds with Jaap and Mieke, and then she started talking about the ferryboat.