It’s that time of year again, when we go see the fields of tulips. Tulips are my absolute favorite flower. I have a fresh bunch on the kitchen table every week. So of course going to see beautiful fields of them is a must. I take the kiddos every year. It’s become a tradition. Except we didn’t make it last year… that whole pandemic thing was just getting started. Thankfully a year later, life is somewhat returning to normal.
Brian joined us this year, his second time going in all the years the kiddos and I have made the trek. He took Friday off and we made it a family day up north. I’m a creature of habit… we went to Roozengaarde, again. It’s the only place we’ve ever gone and I see no reason to switch things up. Because of Covid, they require tickets to be purchased in advance—for a day and entry time. Thankfully I bought the tickets a week in advance because all the morning entry times were sold out a few days before. We went with a 10:45am entry time, leaving home about 9am to make the drive.
Traffic was smooth until the exit to get to the tulips. Plus one for Google, for giving us an alternative route without traffic. We arrived right at 10:45am with everyone else. It was packed. And the day was only getting started. When purchasing tickets, they ask that people keep their visit to two hours in the fine print (three hours also, contradicting themselves)… they totally didn’t enforce this. There were so.many.people in the fields and around the garden. And it felt even more busy when we left, after our two hours (I listen).
Pictures galore!
I love the bottom eight pictures, showing how incredibly difficult it is to get a decent picture of all five when a toddler is involved. Haha!
Beautiful tulips!
People pictures. Laine asked me to buy matching rompers for her and Maive a while back. It was finally warm enough to wear them. She was so excited!
Waiting for kettle corn. Blaise is the best big brother! Maive has no idea how lucky she is to have him (and her sisters).
After our two hours viewing the tulip fields and grubbing on a bag of kettle corn, we left for La Conner. I’ve always driven through the cute little town but have never stopped… I figured this was a perfect opportunity. And it was. We drove past a quaint Mexican restaurant that didn’t look busy. Sold. We parked and walked the few blocks to the restaurant. No wait and a large enough table for the seven of us.
The food was great and the kids were well-behaved, it was a successful lunch. Next up, ice cream. I had read online there was an ice cream shop in La Conner. We managed to find it a few block up from the Mexican restaurant. Each kiddo picked out their ice cream of choice and Brian ordered the cones. There are only a few tables outside the ice cream ordering window, and all were taken. There is an outdoor area across from the ice cream shop, with benches along the river. We made our way over there. Maive got her run on along the river while the big kiddos ice creamed. Maive would swing by each kid for a lick as she ran past. She has life figured out.
Root beer! Blaise, Saige, and Baby asked if they could have root beet with lunch. Sure! I usually let them get a whatever drink at restaurants since we rarely eat out.
Attempting to get a picture with all five… that didn’t happen. It was chaos.
It was after 2pm and Laine had practice at 4pm. We loaded up and hit the road for Woodinville. Traffic was INSANE heading north. Like a parking lot. I’d love to know where everyone was going?! Thankfully we were heading south. There were a few slowdowns but nothing compared to the northbound lanes. We made it to the gym with 20 minutes to spare.
Laine was off to practice for four hours; the rest of us went home. It was a hot day—the hottest day of the year yet. Blaise, Saige, and Baby hit the trampoline in their swimsuits, with a sprinkler underneath. They had been asking since it’s been sunny… my rule is it has to be 80 degrees or warmer to use the sprinkler. As soon as we made it home, they asked Google the temperature. It was 81 degrees. That’s my only complaint of the day—the heat and bright sunshine. I am not a fan. Emphasis on not. And the air conditioning in the Suburban isn’t working. Awesome. That wasn’t fun, driving home in the heat. It’s always something! (It’s getting fixed tomorrow.)
Sprinkler play on a hot day.
Until next spring. I hope to make it a tradition for Brian to tag along.
Jumping Raccoons 