The Tulip Festival

Last Saturday we took a drive to the Skagit Valley Tulip festival. The tulips bloom all through April and we had heard that it was gorgeous. It didn't disappoint. We may have still been a bit early since the winter was so long, but we still saw lots of colors. Ian had a great time avoiding mud puddles and announcing the colors of each row. He even decided to cooperate for some picture taking.

We also had a chance to eat some street fair food in Mount Vernon and visited La Conner, WA, a little water-front town. We had a long, but very fun day exploring the Skagit Valley. Hope you all enjoy some pictures from our day.



















Ian reading the map and telling us which way to go. This is a common occurrence these days. He likes to ask me if I'm sure I know where I'm going. He loves his maps.
William wearing Papa's glasses and riding in the stroller. He was less than cooperative on our trip and spent most of the day strapped in the stroller. He wants to get out and go, but just needs a little more time to get the walking going. He's doing really well at walking while holding hands. Any day now...





Posing with the flowers.


Ian and Mama (trying to keep him still). What a view!


More pink tulips...


Bright orange and HUGE. I think these may have been Ian's favorites. He really enjoyed finding different colors to look at.




















Papa and his boys.

Some scenery (Mount Baker in the background). The pictures really don't do it justice.

Easter

Here are a few pictures from Easter. Unfortunately, I didn't have very cooperative kiddos when it came to picture taking. I think all the candy was a bit too exciting to sit still for pictures. Despite that, we had a very nice day. The boys were great during church and we went out for Chinese food afterward (our Washington tradition).

We spent the rest of the day rationing candy between the kids and Mike and I...I think Mike and I stole quite a bit. That is the benefit of all kids under 4!


Ian and the boys' Easter basket.

Once Will found the jelly beans he didn't care about anything else. He ate jelly beans while Ian looked through the Easter basket.

William and his M and M bunny. Saying "deese" for the camera.

The only picture I could get of either child that isn't blurry or from the back.

Our whole family after church. The kids were a bit tired of sitting still at this point although they did a great job during church. Ian has discovered coloring books and crayons and is now capable of sitting quietly for at least a few minutes at a time.

Our "traditional" Easter dinner at PF Chang's. I figure I have a few more years before the kids expect a home-cooked Easter meal (or at least a few more before they'll actually eat it anyway). We enjoyed ourselves!

The HAIRCUT

We finally did it...we chopped off all that hair and Ian aged about two years. He does look cute though (okay, so I am a bit biased). Here is our clean cut boy.

Before...

During...

And after...

Some warm weather and a day at the zoo!

We FINALLY got some warm weather here and just had to take advantage of it. Mike (yes, Mike) has been dying to go to the zoo so we finally made it yesterday. We managed to get the kids to early church and headed straight to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. I always think we'll get a chance to see everything, but we never do. Despite that, we hit the highlights (monkeys, giraffes and elephants) and got a membership for the year. I expect that I will be there a lot with the boys this summer.

Here are some pictures of our day.


Looking at the chickens. William thinks that all animals either quack or roar (and most roar) so he spent the entire time roaring at the farm animals. He even had other parents laughing. It was pretty funny!

Michael trying to give William a better view. He was mildly interested.

Ian and Mike looking at some type of monkey. I can't keep them all straight. Ian knows more from watching Diego than I do!

A great shot of a tiger that paced and roared the whole time.

Ian being Ian. Look at all that hair! Stay tuned to see how long it lasts...

When Papa doesn't come home for dinner...

We get ice cream (yep, for dinner)! Some pictures of the boys enjoying their enormous ice cream dinner... That's huge!

Digging in...

Yummy!

A big grin for Mama (all I seem to catch on camera lately)!

All gone and I'm sticky from head to toe! :) :) :)


And just a random picture...

Just had to throw in this picture of William riding his bike. He is actually better at this than Ian was at his age (Ian was still going backwards). Will uses this to get around the downstairs a lot. We've attempted it outside, but he's not so sure about riding on the sidewalk.

We're missing everyone this week and wishing we could be home for Easter!