Tulip Time

 I've always wanted to go to the tulip festival in Pella, Iowa.  And this year on Mother's Day weekend I got my wish.  There were some disappointments: our hotel was not great, it literally rained on the parade, and because of a warm spring some of the tulips had already bloomed and died.  I always tell the girls to "find the good" in any situation, so I practiced what I preached.  And there was a lot of good.  Any weekend spent with my family is a good weekend.

Hannah calls these sunset tulips.  They were probably my favorite.

We found a small pond and had a picnic on the dock on our way to the festival.

In Pella we watched the parade, toured the windmill and historical village.  We also saw lots of people dressed up in traditional clothing.  I liked the way the shoes sounded when they danced.

The girls built a little tent out of our umbrella and blanket when it started to rain during the parade.

Olive waved very seriously at every float that went by.

This is what I get when I ask for a picture with the girls.  Sigh.

They have two parades a day and every just leaves their chairs and blankets set up all day.  We were on the grass by the giant cow and right across the street from Wyatt Earp's childhood home.

On top of the Vermeer Windmill, the tallest working windmill in the United States.  The windmill tour was everyone's favorite part of the trip.  Olive said it reminded her of the Space Needle.  It wasn't quite that big. :)

We finally got them to take a picture with me and the tulips!  In the background is the Hendrik Scholte House, founder of Pella.

We tried to eat at local Dutch bakeries but the lines were too long.  We ended up at Breadeaux Pizza, which I remember eating growing up and have never found another one since.  It was DELICIOUS.  The next day we found this awesome park in Knoxville.  Because when you travel with kids, you are always on the look out for parks.  The picture can't really show how huge it was.

And we also stopped at Elk Rock State Park because the girls love sticks, rocks, and water.

She climbed up by herself.  That girl is scrappy.

We made some good family memories, saw a new place, and learned about a different culture.  I definitely recommend going to Pella, although maybe not during Tulip Time if you don't like crowds.