Koninginnedag

I'm posting this about two days late, but I took it in honour of Queen's Day in the Netherlands, which is every year on April 30th. It is the Queen Mother Juliana's birthday and she started the national holiday on which all stores must remain closed except restaurants, and anyone and everyone can sell anything on the street. Her daughter, her Majesty Queen Beatrix (left) has carried it on and it is now called Queen's day, or Koninginnedag.

In essence it's a country- wide garage sale on the streets (except that most people don't have garages) and in Amsterdam it's a big day, with people staking out prime sidewalk spots at busy intersections overnight in their sleeping bags. Pubs and Cafe's hire bands to play on their terraces under temporary awnings, and people go up and down the canals in their boats with their friends and good beer.

The Dutch flag is flown with orange wimpels everywhere and lost of people wear orange, which is our national colour after the House of Orange, our royal family.



So here's John Samuel, dressed up in orange, in honour of his Queen, because he's soon to become a Dutch citizen--as soon as we get his Canadian papers done, we'll go to the Embassy and get his Dutch ones.

But before that happens he will have already been to visit his other country; we get on a plane to Amsterdam on June 5th, and we'll be there for two weeks visiting his Oma and Opa Mellis and his proud uncle Colin!