Sightings Around Amsterdam...

As always, there were goofy games for both kids and adults.

There was also lots of places to buy drinks. After G&Ts, we bought a shot of Oranjebitter, the traditional King’s Day liqueur, served in cute antique glasses.

Lisa was willing to buy an overpriced Heineken because she loved the ingenuity of the seller one floor above her.

Jimmy was willing to buy an overpriced six-pack because he liked this fellow’s sales efforts.

You just never know what you’ll see on King’s Day.

This sign says: All for sale (also Bastiaan).

It’s nice that Amsterdam has selfie mirrors around town.

Loved seeing kids dressed up to try to make some money. These girls were adorable...

...and these were creepy.

Sightings in Vondelpark...

Loved Steve’s outfit. I thought he was Mr. Heat Miser from The Year Without a Santa Claus from 1974, but he’s too young to even know who that is.

Jimmy and Steve posed with a group of Germans in Amsterdam for a hen party who had no idea why everyone was in orange. 

Jimmy bought this goofy monkey from the bride. 

Some idiots apparently thought it was a good idea to throw these porta potties into a pond at Vondelpark.

There was clearly a lot of drinking going on in the park.

I found a bike key and was happy that the park has a place to put lost items in hopes that the owners might find them again.

Wonder if the Hare Krishnas wore their orange robes in order to fit in.

Orange Confetti...

I don’t know if it was a new thing or just a new thing to us, but we experienced several confetti canons which turned the sky orange.

Check out this guy’s suit.

Pieter carried Norah in a high-tech backpack...

...complete with a sunshade (visible behind Jimmy).

Orange Canals...

The canals were overflowing with boats...

...and lots of orange, the official color of the country.

If you look closely, you’ll find a fellow sitting in a window looking down at all the merriment.

What a great view he must have had in the window from this house built in 1656.

Another King’s Day in Amsterdam...

The Blacks in Orange

We started our day by heading over to Bob and Lisa’s house, which is conveniently located on the Brouwersgracht, one of the main canals.

The view from their living room window shows that many of their neighbors set up tables to sell their old junk on the one day of the year that yard sales are allowed nationwide.

One of their neighbor’s flew a two-story tall Dutch flag.

Many of the boats were so crowded they were standing-room only. 

Another Invasion by the Blacks...

Melissa and Pieter didn’t want to miss the chance to experience King’s Day before moving back to the US, so they brought Norah back up for another weekend of fun and debauchery. Friday night we celebrated Koninginnenacht (the night before the King’s birthday) in The Hague.

Little Norah looked adorable in her oversized ear protection.

The rest of us looked pretty blurry by this point in the evening.

Year 13 Awards Ceremony...

We were so proud to see Ashlynn receive a Pastoral Award: Ashlynn has shone through fundraising for charity. Her work with the ECO Committee is particularly impressive. (For those that aren’t familiar with the word pastoral, it is used frequently at our school in reference to the head teacher’s responsibility for the general well-being of students.)

Sophie received a Leadership Award for her role on the Student Council.