Koningindag

April 30 is Koningindag or Queen’s Day and the whole country celebrates.  Everyone wears orange and the sidewalks turn into one giant garage sale.  Our neighborhood, Belgisch Park, had a street festival for the event.  There was a stage with music and lots of stalls with food and games.   The boys’ favorite was a big obstacle course.  Daddy’s favorite was the china smashing where he threw cups into plates and bowls with a great deal of crashing.  Mommy’s favorite was the “soessmijter” or cream puff catapault where the boys rolled a tennis ball up the ramp to trigger the catapault that threw something like a chocolate covered cream puff through the air into their hands.

Henry Pops the Balloon

William Races to the Finish

At the end of the day the kids tied orange postcards with their name and address on them to balloons.  At the count of 10 they all let go of their balloons – and a giant gust of wind took most of them into the trees.   Henry’s sailed free.   William’s worked its way out of the tree after a big storm.   William got his postcard back three days later from a town 200km from here.  Henry’s hasn’t come back yet.   We turned William’s in and are waiting to see who wins the balloon competition by having his or her postcard come back from the farthest away.

Waiting for the Balloon Countdown