Last week we had an American invasion. David and Charles were (too) briefly back in town, and almost all my American relatives came to visit as well. David and Charles were here on their grand tour of Europe with Charles’ parents. We offered them a boat trip around Amsterdam, and thankfully the weather improved just in time.

My American relatives were here in honour of my mother’s 80th birthday party. She had her birthday on March 1st, but threw a party in May, figuring that the weather would be more agreeable than in March. It almost was not, but we were lucky: Friday (the day of the party) in the end turned out excellent. All together there were 54 guests for the day: first we took them on an excursion to Pampus, and afterwards there was a lunch in Muiderberg. The day was a big success, and I think all had a good time. But it has been a busy weekend.