Family day

The reason I went to the Netherlands this specific weekend was the annual family day. It was organised by the Haarlem part of the family, and would take place in the dunes. I love the dunes! My cousin Bart had booked a part of the visitor centre, and he mentioned the idea was to go swimming in a little dune lake as well. Sounded fine. 

The visitor centre was only some 20 minutes walking from the nearest train station, so Neil and I got on our bikes in the morning and took the train west. We changed trains in Amsterdam, where we found my nephew David. That was nice! He hadn't met Neil yet. And it turned out that my other nephew Abe had caught the train as well, but at the very last moment, so he was at the far end. And it was a very sunny Whitsun weekend, so obviously, the train to the beach was absolutely rammed.

We walked up with the four of us, and found the visitors centre without problems. Quite a number of people were already there. And there was coffee and cake for whoever wanted it. A good start!

Everybody introduced themselves to Neil, and they were all happy I had brought him. And I was glad I had made him a cheat sheet so he could remember who was who, and how everyone was related.

What with the coast being very busy that day, there were a few people stuck in traffic, so it took a while before we were complete. But it pretty much happened! Everyone you might expect to be there was there, except two children; one, I think, was too busy with exams, and the other one was poorly. And that is sad, but altogether the turnout was good.

My uncle Dick does an introduction 

Lunch happened quite soon after the coffee. And we had long tables, so you could move around a bit, and try to catch up with every branch of the family present. It is a lovely bunch!

After lunch, many of us indeed went to the little lake. It was busy! But nice. In no time, my sister’s sons were hurling my cousin’s son as high out of the water as they could, to his delight. But we didn’t stay in the water very long. 

On the way to the dune lake

By the lake

The lake itself

We got back and had some tea and cake and suchlike. It was all rather relaxed! I suppose that’s good if you are in a heatwave, you have elderly people there (like my dad), and the most important thing is catching up anyway. There was  plenty to talk about! 

After the tea there was a split. Those who lived far away and needed to get there left. Everybody else walked a few minutes down the road to a pancake restaurant. Pancakes! Who doesn’t love them. 

After the pancakes it was time to go our separate ways. I had really enjoyed it. Next year it will be in Enschede.  Bring it on!