We arrive

All went well for the boys from Burlington to JFK. Only one minor mishap. I (Jim Shea) gave my son Jack S. a little bit of medicine just before taking off from Burlington. You know, some of that motion sickness pill stuff. Well, about a half hour ater we landed at JFK, Jack was nearly asleep. Well, ...more than asleep. Almost unconscious! Turns out I gave him twice the dose he needed. Not to worry, he regained conscoiusness by 6 pm and was well on his way toward recovery. My wife already chewed me out!

We had a rather non-eventful time at JFK...until the Far Post girls showed up. All of a sudden, when the ladies arrived, everyone was bouncing around and laughing and roaring like they had all gotten into some Mountain Dew. (Turns out, only one of the girls actually had a Mountain Dew.)

We all boarded the plane to Amesterdam at about 8:45 pm. We had a nice meal of chicken or pasta, and the tried to sleep. I took an unofficial poll this morning, The average person slept for 3 or 4 hours. many of us (me) slept for about 2 hours. The airplane seat does not compare with my Tempurpedic! Most of us had a real hard time trying to find a comfortable position. And I was next to Phil (who was next to Chad) and I don't think any of us slept more than a few hours.

We arrived in Amsterdam right on time, and the weather is 55 - 60 degrees and overcast. Everyone got their luggage. We all piled into this really nice bus, boys and girls. The bus took us to Ajax Stadium in Amsterdam. It's HUGE. Holds 52,000 screaming soccer fans. They even gave all of us a tour of the stadium. Turns out we will be seeing a soccer match there tomorrow. I'm not quite sure who Ajax is playing, but it's a really important match. If Ajax wins (and PSV loses) then Ajax will be in 1st place and won't have to compete in the playoffs. If Ajax loses, then it has to compete in the playoffs. It's a bit confusing; I don't really understand it. (Remember, I had 2 hours of sleep (next to Phil) last night.) But there are huge signs in this huge stadium that say F--- DE PLAYOFFS! The fans apparently don't want their Ajax team to lose, and they are not shy abot expressing their opinions in large written forms. Many of us took photos of these huge banners.

We also had a chance to go into the gift shop at the soccer stadium. The boys showed great restraint. Brendan did NOT buy that $180 soccer outfit that he tried on. (He said it had too much red.)

Then , after our shopping and our tour, we got a chance to go behind the Ajax staium and play soccer on an empty field for a while. Nice to finally get to move.

After that, the bus took us to the Stayokay hostel n Amsterdam. It's pretty nice here, better than I expected. There are 2 bunkbeds (4 beds) in most rooms. It's clean. We got here about 5 pm and Todd demanded that "no one take a nap, otherwise you won't sleep tonight." Dr. Charlie and I started to whimper, we're so tired. Many of the kids (and adults) took showers and now most everyone is outside the hostel playing basketall with a soccer ball. I wish you could see them. They are laughing and having a blast; you would never guess they are all sleep deprived.

It's 6:30 pm here right now. I have to get going. Dinner is at 7:30 pm buffet style) and I still have to shower and change. I just want to assure all you parents and friends that ALL of the boys are doing great. The only one not doing 100% great is coach Phil. He has a slight ear ache and cold. But I've assured him that Amsterdam has things that can help. ;)

Tonight, after diner, the boys will have a little time to chill, then they have to be in their rooms by 9 pm. Tomorrow Todd and Nathan (Phil's 18 yr old son) are taking the boys on a morning jog. I'm not sure if the girls are going too. I may join them, depending on what time they go. Then we'll tour Amerstrdam, then come back to the hostel for lunch. We'll probably leave for the Ajax soccer match at 1:30 pm. We're only a few miles from the stadium. Amsterdam is a great place, very flat and LOTS of people riding old bikes. Very beautiful.

You parents should be very proud of your kids. They are ALL behaving great!

If you have a question, you can email me at hatsnjim@aol.com. Or, if you can figure it out, you can add to this blog.

Take care,

Jim Shea