Tulip Town

I was so excited that we got to go to the Tulip Festival this year as a family.  I went last year but ended up missing some of the most beautiful parts of the tulip festival because I went so late in the season.  Last year all of the large fields of tulips were empty and cut by the time I went but this year we went the first weekend that the fields were open and it was beautiful.

I am so glad that we got to see the flowers before we move.  This was a great weekend activity for Drew, the kids and I because there was something for everyone.  Drew and I loved looking at all the different types of flowers and appreciating the beauty while Alden like walking through the mud and occasionally looking at the flowers.  Anders just liked looking at everything and trying to touch whatever flowers or plants that he could.

Our first stop at the Tuilp Festival was Tulip Town which was beautiful, but I have to admit that after our second stop we looked back and thought Tulip Town wasn't worth it.  Tulip Town had a few beautifully designed gardens right past the entrance and then there is a large tulip field that you are able to walk all around.  They also have a tractor that you can take around that same field but we decided we would rather walk it.  It was very pretty and we had a nice time walking around there.

They had some nice painted murals at the front entrance.

Some of the gardens near the entrance were really pretty and nicely designed!

They had one giant tulip field that you could walk around and see.

We had a lot of fun walking around and looking at all the different types of tulips they had there.

I loved seeing the vibrant colors of some of the flowers, like these pink ones.

It is hard to see in the picture, but these were multi-hued and very pretty.

The fields were fairly muddy as we walked around them, but we had all worn boots so we were fine and Alden thought it was a lot of fun to get to jump over all the puddles.

We were there very early in the season, so some flowers were not yet in bloom.

The flowers with the pointed petals were really pretty.

Drew and I both really liked the yellow and red tulips.

Alden had fun walking around and telling us which flowers he liked.

These were both very pretty and unique varieties of tulips.

This is what happens when you try to get two boys to smile for a picture with Mommy.

We got both kids to look...but Anders still wanted to get hold of the flowers.

Then it was back to only one boy looking at a time.

We had a very nice lady stop and offer to take our family picture.  At least we got one with everyone mostly looking.  It really was very pretty at the tulip fields!

This was another little garden near the front entrance that I really liked.  I loved the windmill and the way the water was set up through the garden.

We had a really nice time exploring Tulip Town and I am glad that we all got to go see the tulips this year.  This was a great first stop for our day at the tulip festival.

The Easter Beagle

This year we had a very relaxed Easter but it was a lot of fun to see the kids enjoying the Holiday.  I feel like it is always a lot of fun to see holidays through my kids eyes because they just have so much joy.  It was a lot of fun to see them look through the stuff in their baskets and look for the eggs, but it was even more special to talk to Alden about the true reason we celebrate Easter.  I love the fact that Alden is old enough to start understanding how much of a sacrifice Christ made for us, but because of him we can be together forever as a family.

This year was also made really interesting because Alden was so excited that the Easter Beagle came and brought eggs.  Yup, not the Easter bunny, the Easter beagle!  You can tell that Alden loves Snoopy and Drew and I thought it was great when we asked him who brought everything and he told us it was the Easter Beagle with no prompting from us.  We decided we were okay with this and so Alden thinks the Easter Beagle will visit him every year at Easter.  =)

Daddy got to help Anders look through his basket.

Alden loved getting to look around for all the eggs but we had to remind him that the ones on the ground were for Anders.

Alden quickly found most of the eggs.

Anders loved playing with the stuff from the basket.

Alden wanted to start opening his eggs before he had found all of them.  He was so excited to see what was inside.

Back to looking for eggs.

Anders finally found his first egg.  He loved finding it and realizing that it rattled.

After they found all the eggs we just started setting a few up so that Anders could go chase them and knock them over.  It was really cute!

We had a great Easter morning and then got to enjoy a wonderful day at church and more family time for the rest of the day!