Our visitor has arrived!

At the arrival/custom gate...waiting anxiously

signs made, jaunty Orange fedora ready....

and here's GARY!!!

the hat is on, now he is ready to party!

a happy group!

we head directly to the tulip fields

Gary is enjoying the sites and hanging with Danny!

Gary is here! We are excited to welcome our first overnight guest to Gaaghof 16. We were at the airport by 8am to meet Gary, who had traveled solo from Detroit. They would not let me through customs here in the Netherlands(typical Dutch I guess) but I phoned the gate and they were giving Gary assistance. He handled himself very well, and said he wasn't nervous. I told him it's kind of cool to think he can travel by himself, and he said, "yeah, I can!" with his great Gary smile!
On the way home from the airport we drove the Bulb road, which finds through the bulb fields for about 20Km. The views are gorgeous on both sides and the air is perfumed with flowers. We stopped and got out in several spots to take pictures, and at one point found a residential tower dating from the mid 14th century to walk around. Sweet!
We got home and ate lunch and gave Gary a tour and set him up in his room(Danny's) and then played cards,dominoes, worked a puzzle, hung out...and listened to the pounding of the sudden  hail storm on the roof.
We had a Dutch themed tea at 3pm, with stroopwafl and windmill cookies and started our next book in our series The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place.  Danny and I headed to judo and Gary and the girls waited for Jerry to get home from work and fix dinner. By the time we got home the sun was shining again and Gary and Danny to a walk to the swans nest and to see the sheep at the end of our street. Jerry and the girls headed to their running team practice.  Gary did an awesome job of staying awake all day, but after a slice of apple pie he was ready to say goodnight! We are all just thrilled to have a friend here....all friends who are reading this, Come on Over!! ;)