Friends are the best

While out and about Cari noticed that some of her friends were home (people were hanging out their window, LOL).  Cari called and her friend said to come on up.  Come to find out they'd been out and about, had stopped by the house for a potty break, and the next thing they knew their house was full of friends!

 I knew they were my kind of people when I saw all the books (this is just one example) and all the board games they had.  Kerplunk.  Boggle.  And they play them.  I love people like this.  I knew Cari had made some darn good friends.

 Their place is on a canal: look at their view. 

Someone had used orange tape and laid out the path from birth to death.  Cari couldn't resist.  She's somewhere in the middle of the path.  Not too close to birth.  Not too close to death.  Just right.

 I loved their collections.  Reminds me of my desk, but they put me to shame!

So, we find out that they had planned on walking to a park for a music festival, so we joined in.  Look at this little cutie we came across.  She was ready for anything!

Party boats were everywhere.  This boat had a DJ, and he had just set off a big ole bunch of smoke.  At first I thought it was on fire, but then I realized what was happening.

 Cari's friends made us feel at home.  They were kind and interesting and had a zest for life. 

It was fun checking out all the stuff still out for sale.  A little bit of everything.

 Another crowd.  Big surprise.

Now for some reason unknown to me, Mark was trying to convince everyone that he should be 'king for the day', or something along that line.  SO, as we stopped for some of the group to grab something to eat one of the guys let Mark sit on the small chair he'd been carrying along.  And so Mark plopped down in the middle of the street to hold court or something. 

Ah, the king and his subjects.  Again, meeting Cari's friends just showed me what a wonderful young woman she's become.  Meeting them will be one of the highlights of our trip.

 The two young men in orange are from our group, and they were in dire need of food.  After this they were VERY happy.

We made it to the park, and the place was jumping.  The crowd was very thick and so much into the music.  The guys on the stage were throwing their clothes into the crowd on a regular basis.  I saw a couple of t-shirts fly, and then one of them took off his coat and flung it into the crowd.  Wow!  I wouldn't mind giving away a tshirt or two, but a coat?  Man, they were really into the moment I guess.

Cari ran into some more friends.  I have to say the walk itself was interesting.  It was a great way to spend Queen's Day.

Hmmm...how to make the walk home better?  Hmmmm...let's see.....perhaps an ice cream?  Oh yes.  You can have your beer.  Give me an ice cream cone and we'll call it good.

Almost home, and we came across a band, looking like they were getting ready to play.  I would have liked to have followed them and heard them play, but we'd just walked 5 miles (after a full morning of walking more than that) and I have to admit I was ready to unwind.

Love the name of this boat.  Thank goodness Queen's Day wasn't ugly.  It was actually fun and lively and interesting and met all my expectations.  Thanks Amsterdam for a fun filled day!