Tulip Love

Saturday we took the kids to a Tulip Festival in a town about an hour from where we live.  Initially, we were  little afraid of how much the whole affair would cost, since they slaughtered us with a 10 dollar parking fee (!!!!  I know!), but we trudged through the mud and saw some absolutely lovely tulip fields.  Note to self: buy boots for next season.  They did have some tents set up with different vendors and their goods, and we were able to hold some rather large parrots, check out some old-school farm equipment, and they had a wagon ride through the fields.  We opted out of this since we were hauling a stroller.  Marin stayed in the backpack most of the time until we got to the kids section and she saw the bouncy houses/slides.  While she didn't go in the bouncy house, she had fun playing with some of the other free kids activities they had there:  A rubber duck race with hand water pumps, playground, corn-box (like a sand box) and badminton.   All in all, we really had a great time, but the boots are a must for next season!

Here is Marin in the backpack and sitting in the trunk, ready to go!

 Those glasses just KILL me, she is so darned cute!

 The picture simply does NOT do justice to how lovely the fields of tulips were, so pretty!

 I must say, I really think tulips are my favorite flower.  They are in season on my birthday (which, is coming up by the way...), there are so many gorgeous varieties and they are so classy and unpretentious, if you can define a flower as such?

 Just beautiful!

 Here's a happy little man, he was so good for the whole trip!  Just keep him fed and he'll throw smiles at you all day ;)

 Kristoffer with the parrot.

 Marin and me, and, if you're wondering about the look on her face, see the next picture.

 She was a little nervous! 

Kristoffer was telling me that he when he was in Europe before we were married, he took a train that went by some tulip fields in the Netherlands and they were just amazing!  He said he dreamed that someday he would have the chance to do that with his wife someday.  This was said to me as we trudged through an overgrown, muddy field hauling a stroller behind us and carrying 30 pounds of Marin and backpack in the brisk, wet breeze as Marin clamors she needs to go potty...tulips aplenty in the rolling fields to our right. Who say's dreams don't come true? ;)  Nah, we just laughed and packed the memory with us for future years!