Waiting for the bus

We booked a tour for today and arrived in Dam Square to catch the bus a little early. So we wasted some time "playing".



We grabbed some breakfast at a little restaurant near the Krasnapolosky (the hotel we have stayed in before). The kids had warm Chocomel with whipped cream on top! (Chocomel is like chocolate milk and when warmed up it is like hot chocolate - a great treat). They also had some delicious muffins.



Look! A picture with *me* in it! Justice was eager to take some photos so I handed the camera over to him.



Journey and Jagger enjoyed playing on the stairs of the national war memorial. They like going up on the white step that runs along the edge (about the height of their waist in this picture). Of course I didn't have the camera in my hands when Jagger started "streaking"! He was running along the wall when his jeans suddenly fell to his ankles! Guess I need to buy the kid a belt.



While Journey and Jagger were busy at the memorial, Justice went to visit his pigeon "friends". Everyone had to join in soon, and the pigeons had a wonderful breakfast of left-over muffins!

Feeding the pigeons

Justice loves to feed the pigeons and the best place to do it is in Dam Square, in front of the Queen's Palace.

Jeff is wearing the denim jacket, Justice (10 1/2) is in red, Journey (7 1/2) is wearing the navy coat, and Jagger (4), is in the light blue jacket.

The large stone building is the palace, and the building with the banners that say "Indonesia" is the Neiwe Kerk (The New Church has regular exhibits from museums all over the world).







Yes, that's a pigeon on his head! Justice tore off a small chunk of bread and used it to coax the pigeons onto his hand, then slowly moved it to the top of his head so the bird would follow the bread and rest atop his head.









Jagger was being very selective about which pigeon he would give the bread to. He quickly picked out his favorites and got frustrated when the "wrong" pigeon ate the bread!

Birdboy

Remember when Jane and Michael Banks went to the bank with their father, who was a banker? They each had "toppins" to put in the bank, but Michael decided that he would rather spend his money to buy bread to feed the birds. The banker and his father and his father and his father (really just Dick Van Dyke in a series of hideous costumes)......tried to convince Michael to put his money in the bank, but he ran out of the bank and into the cobblestone plaza where the crazy old lady sat and fed the birds. A sappy song came on..."feed the birds toppins a bag...toppins...toppins....toppins a bag..."

Justice loves to feed the birds in Dam Square. We even got to meet a crazy bird lady the other day. She arrives at 2:30 everyday to feed the birds (after she has gathered old bread from the bakeries). She leaves at 3 and heads to the Amstel river to feed the seagulls and ducks.

I can't stand in Dam Square and watch Justice feed the birds without that darn song going through my head! If you don't know what movie I'm talking about then you must have had a severly disadvantaged childhood!