A Dutch Day

We started the day knowing that it wouldn't be very exciting. Saturday has turned into our "get things done" day. All of the shops close up early here, so the things that we need either have to be bought while David is at work or on the weekends. It is really difficult to get things like kids shoes (they have to be there and not in school) and so we set out with a few errands to run. 1) a hotdog...we were starving. 2) Some new outdoor shoes for Parker (more on the complexity of outdoor/indoor/rainyoutdoor shoes) 3) Pick up our laundry so we could have clothes to wear and 4) We needed to get pictures of our friends homeschooling project, Spike the Alligator with something Hollandish. This list should have filled up our entire day.

Destiny intervened. I had planned on taking the doll and getting a picture with one of the innercity windmills near the laundry and shopping area. As we drove by, I noticed something...an odd flag that said OPEN...and there were people on top. Holy Moley! These particular windmills are never open. We were all bubbling with excitement and ready to go, but the voice of reason: DAVID...told us we had to do our things (eat) first. Sigh. So we did. We got our hotdogs in a hollowed out roll. They take a machine and hollow out bread rolls and shove the hotdog inside. I will ask David to write a post about his 'hotdog and Parker' experience. Then we found Parker something other than sandals. We bought him his very first pair of boots - Converse boots. He's so cool now.

FINALLY, we were able to go and soothe my aching curiosity that was flaring. We found out that it was the annual "MONUMENTAL DAY" where all of the local monuments are open and free to the public. In addition, it was also national "OPERA DAY" and inside some of these monuments would be people singing opera. Since it was the end of the day we meandered as much as we could with the maps provided, here are a few of the things we were able to experience because of our good fortune:

Our first windmill

There was a lot of going up and down very tiny stairs...

which sometimes made David a bit nervous when there were no rails.

We visited a second windmill...this one was working! It ground it's own flour...

This is my love, sharing his love for cogs and wheels and thingamajigs with his children.

Afterwards, we partook of the fruits of the windmills labors and had pannekoeken which is a pancake with powdered sugar. They made them fresh for us. YUM!

We went to wander around for awhile. We went through some art exhibits with people drinking wine, a church with people drinking wine...

We met this creepy lady who read our children a dutch story translated into English...it was pretty cute, she was very unsure of herself. The kids were patient and appreciative. Thank goodness it was a short story!

We got to see and listen to a music box...

see a firefighting boat

and listen to a small orchestra playing along the side of the banks as we made our way back to the car and ended our day. It was like walking in a dream...until Parker refused to get back in the car.