On Saturday we had a big street festival on Boudewijnsstraat.  The 
street was closed to car traffic at each end.  There were tents set up 
to house the games and food stands.  Lynn -  in his typical fashion - 
decided to make a banner.  Well, for those who know Lynn well, you 
are now thinking 'I wonder how big it was?'  Well, it was in 2 pieces, 
each one was 20 meters long and 1 meter wide, one said 
'Boudewijns' and the other 'Straatfeest'.  The kids colored in the 
block letters and we rolled up the paper and tied it in a slip knot.  
We ran it between our house and the one across the street at the 
height of Michelle's room (the third floor with 12' ceilings).  
Everyone that was on the street setting up the tents was watching 
and trying to figure out what we were doing.  Well, we had it in 
place and it was time to pull the string.  Graham and Michelle were 
down below and each one pulled a string.   Each banner unrolled just 
as it should have - everyone was starting to oohh and aahh and then 
the wind picked up and started sailing with our paper.  One of the 
banners ripped and the other was flying around.  Someone 
immediately started trying to tape the torn one and then Lynn and 
another man sorted out a way to hang up what was left.  It was just 
too windy to leave them hanging the way that Lynn wanted so he 
hung them against the building to protect them from the wind.  Some 
of the little kids spent time during the day chasing the banners 
around.

They had games for the children - Graham and Michelle spent Friday 
evening wrapping toys for the prizes.  It was a good chance for them 
to spend some time with some very nice neighborhood kids.  
Although the games were geared for the little kids, plenty of older 
ones were playing as well.  They also had face painting.

The food tents included a huge dessert table. I took eclaire cake and 
cherry cheese cake (a mix from the American store- shhhh don't 
tell!),  They fried 60 kilos of frites, sold pizzas, tons of hot dogs and 
had a big drinks table.  I spent half the day working at the dessert 
table and then some time selling hot dogs.  There was a drawing for 
everyone that made a dessert and I won a prize.  It was the best 
selling novel - IN DUTCH.  Everyone got a real hoot out of that.  I had 
to go up to the microphone and tell them how I felt after winning 
such a good prize and all that silliness.  One of the other ladies won a 
nice fleece jacket.  She wanted to trade with me - she only had to ask 
once!!  

There was a big stage set up for a band.  They played mostly old 
rock and roll (They were almost as good as our friends back home)- 
a lot of Beatles and some Stones and Springstein - I felt right 
at home.  They also had a guy that did some acrobatic stuff and then 
twirled fire and swallowed it and then blew it in the air.  It was fun 
for all.

The evening was supposed to culminate with a huge tug-of-war 
between the evens and odds - I've been told that our side of the 
street usually wins.  BUT, someone forgot/lost the rope so that didn't 
come to pass.

It was really nice to meet so many of the people in the 
neighborhood.  Graham spent at least 8 hours solid on his razor with 
his new friend, Mattias (who speaks great English).  Michelle made 
the rounds.  There is a 15 year old girl (Mattius' sister, Evelyn that 
also speaks great English) and she translates for Michelle with the 
other girls that are more her age.   Mattias and Evelyn's family 
invited the kids to go with them to their summer cottage on Sunday.  
It is about 20 minutes from here.  They had a blast, there is lots of 
room to run and play and even a pond.  I guess we should feel lucky 
that they came back home to us.

So, the weekend was a huge success and we are feeling pretty settled 
here.  Why don't you come and visit and see for yourselves??

la