TULIP FEST 2012

Each year I see friends post pictures of their families at the Tulip Fest, but every year we forget to go. This year, though, I was determined to remember and marked the calendar. We went yesterday and had a great time.

I'm a big fan of gifts that allow the recipient to do something, rather than to have something (not that I don't also love tangible items). So when someone asked for gift suggestions for our kids at Christmas we told them "things to do, not things to have" and gave them some ideas. They opted to just give cash instead so that we could have the option of choosing our own activities. We put the money in an envelope and marked it "MAKING MEMORIES".

Why am I telling you this? Because our normal routine would have been to pack a lunch or leave early enough to go home to eat, skip the carnival rides, and just share a bag of cotton candy or something. That would have been fine and we all still would have had fun, but this time we dipped into the gift money, letting the kids each choose one carnival activity and eating delicious, and completely unfrugal, sausages for lunch. The kids loved it!

We started off our time just walking through the tulip field, pointing out flowers with cool shapes, figuring out our favorite colors, spotting various bugs ... and asking strangers to take our picture.



Then we checked out some antique tractors and the boys tried their hands at archery. Next up was a jump house for Naomi. She was grins and giggles the whole time and, as per usual, made friends with another little girl who was playing.



The boys had both chosen a trampoline thing for their activity. They each got harnessed and attached to a suspended arm, of sorts, that allowed them to get really high when they bounced. They started off jumping, then flipping, and eventually cranked out some double flips.

Here is Silas doing a double back flip.



Right as I finished filming him I noticed that Devon had also just done a double back flip. I moved over to film him, but he started his next one before I had the camera ready. Stinker. By the time I was done filming his flip it was time for their turn to end and we couldn't get a better clip. Oh well. This one still works.



The sun was shining, the tulips were gorgeous, the sausages were fantastic, and the kids each enjoyed a carnival activity. Perfect day!