Reliving your childhood is one of the great things about being a parent. I rediscovered the joy of Annie MG Schmidt's songs and poems. She is a very popular author in the Netherlands and her works have become classics.

Many of her poems were put on music, and Sasha and I have now (re)learned two beautiful songs:

• Dikkertje Dap
• Stekelvarkentje Wiegelied

Jaap told me that he used to sing the latter song for me a lot, 34 years ago.

Friday night Nora and I spent an evening together while Sasha and her parents went to a music evening at the Bulgarian Embassy. They saw ensemble Svitanya from Philadelphia and the local group Lyuti Chushki.

On Saturday morning we Skyped with Jaap and Mieke and then took Nora for a long walk. We saw two people that we know in the neighborhood, which is a nice feeling. Several houses are decorated for Thanksgiving with pumpkins and fall colors. Some houses are decorated more subtle than others.

In the evening Sasha and I went out for drinks and dinner.

We saw Silver Linings one night, while Nadya and Milan looked after Nora.

Last night we went to the Haring en Paling event at the Dutch Embassy. The last time we were there was seven years ago.

We saw a lot of old friends and met new people. It was interesting to talk with Petra and her son Kai about raising kids bilingually.

Nora had a blast. She was super excited about meeting all these new people and she was full of energy. She got a lot of attention from old and young peope alike. A sweet 14-month old girl tried to give her food.

Sasha, Milan and Nadia really liked the eel and herring, which are imported from the Netherlands. I had dinner at home later since fish is not really my favorite food. Nora at the other hand tried her first bite of Dutch drop (liquorice). Since we call her "dropje" sometimes it is no surprise that she enjoyed the taste a lot.

Today is my 34th birthday and we celebrated it with Dutch appeltaart and presents. It was a very pleasant morning, with lots of phone calls and messages. Later today we'll go to the Dutch Embassy for a party.

Last night I baked an appeltaart, a Dutch apple pie, from my father's recipe. It turned out great. Nora had a few bites of smashed pie and she liked it.

Our friends Jerry and Marjolein were blessed with a baby boy, Lex Struik! He was born on October 22nd, and everybody is healthy and doing well.

This means that Max is now a big brother -- something that he finds very interesting.

Congratulations!

It's been a rainy day so far. Sasha and I are working remotely and it's nice to spend some more time at home.

In the DC area public life has come to a standstill. The Metro system and all government offices have closed (with the exception of the Supreme Court which was still hearing two cases this morning). Even the NYSE and NASDAQ are closed today, which is very rare.

The worst weather is expected tonight. The biggest fear is that the power will go out; so far it has been fine. Irena and Jonathan are in a difficult situation, the water levels in New Jersey are rising rapidly and they are moving house this week.

Tomorrow my office is closed as well (and so is the Supreme Court, haha).

Tonight or tomorrow Tropical Storm Sandy will arrive in the DC area, and it's supposed to be a big storm.

A big risk with storms like these is that the power will go out. Last time, when Jaap was here, we were lucky and the power stayed on. Just in case, on Friday I bought some extra batteries and enough water for all of us for a few days.

Today I went to do regular shopping for the week, and water bottles were in short supply in most places. In the Safeway all water was sold out.

Our offices are closed tomorrow, so we will work from home. Provided, of course, that the power stays on.

Thursday I got home at 6.30 pm. Nadia and Nora were out for a walk to I went to meet them outside. It was great to see them. Nora was very happy too. We hugged all the way home.

In the evening we celebrated Milan's birthday. We made kyufte on the grill, Bulgarian meatballs made of beef, pork and spices. There was cake for dessert.

Today I met Saskia for coffee, an old classmate from my highschool Wiringherlant. We calculated that it had probably been 21 years since we last saw each other, after we graduated in 1991. (Note: Rob correctly noted that we graduated in 1997, not 1991, so it has been 15 years).

Saskia saw my post on Facebook yesterday with the picture of the electric car charger and she realized we're only a few minutes away from each other. She is staying with friends in Menlo Park for a few weeks.

Saskia brought Mayca and we had coffee in our office. It was very nice to see them.