Liput Festival

Sorry, I meant tulip.

True to my word, we used our newly acquired membership to Thanksgiving Point and we went up to see the tulips. It was a beautiful day, made even better by the fact that everyone got their chores done before we went. (Saturday is still chore day because I am a mean mom.) The tulips were blooming nicely.

I told everyone to find their favorite flower and I would take a picture of it. I actually took quite a few pictures. 160 pictures. (Luckily Tyler didn't have the camera.) I made a list of my favorite pictures and still had 44. I figured that was a bit much for one blog post, even for me. So I have narrowed our tulip adventure down to 30 pictures--a very difficult task.

We found these cute pink pom-pom flowers right away. Guess whose favorite?

Pearl! Although I really liked these as well.

We saw several varieties of these interesting tulips. We went back and forth between calling them frosted or spikey. What do you think?

Next up...whose favorite?

June!

In general, I don't really like red and hot pink together, but I think it looks lovely here.

Quite the good looking group by the waterfall.

Here's another. Whose favorite?

Ivory!! Although these might be my favorite as well.

We went on a Saturday and there were many booths open with souvenirs, wares, and food. I sent the girls with their own money to buy snacks. I think it was a good experience for them. Yummy.

Not many left to guess from. Whose favorite was this flower?

Robyn! I didn't get a picture of her with the flower. She asked instead for me to take a picture with flowers on all sides of her. (She looks pretty cool...don't you agree?) She took her sketch book along and sketched everywhere we went. She came back with some really fun drawings.

I like when two colors mingle on one flower.

Over in the secret garden, Robyn took a picture for us.

I'm pretty lucky to have this handsome bloke around. (I guess you could say he was my favorite thing there.)

Although there was stiff competition.

I've always liked this fountain. I could spend the day here. You could call me a fountain bum. Oh look...there are some more fountain bums.

Tulips were blooming everywhere (as opposed to other years) but there was one section that didn't seem to be getting enough sun. Look at the very different sides of this fountain.

I don't think the Chinese lanterns were new, but I didn't remember them. The kids loved them. They add such a fun splash of color. And of course, they are ideal for jumping and reaching. Almost there Pearl.

Even June couldn't quite reach even though she is getting taller. She has almost caught up to me, although that isn't saying much. (Height is not one of my great attributes.)

Simple beauty.

There was a place I had never seen before called the Life of Christ Sculpture Garden. It was amazing. There was one huge piece in the middle of Christ walking on the water and then smaller scenes surrounding it. There are my two favorite:

The first vision. (I love how Heavenly Father and Jesus hover above the ground.)

And Lazarus being raised from the dead. You can look at it from every angle, but I love this angle...what Lazarus would have seen.

It is worth going to the gardens just to see that area.

In another area, they had a musician playing...I believe, the accordion. We stopped and listened for a minute. It was a good photo op.

Ivory did a little pose for me. She is not camera shy. (Come to think about it, none of my kids are.)

Tyler and I got a picture up on top of the hill by a pillar, much like another time we were there. Still in love...maybe not as young.

We ended our adventure over by the waterfalls. It was fun to take pictures of the water, but I enjoyed Robyn pondering the water more.

Daisy...we never did get a picture of you by your favorite flowers. I'm not sure you had a favorite. You seemed to love them all. Maybe you liked these Tiger Tulips the best? (That is not their official name. It just seems to fit.)

It was a wonderful day, and I only got sunburned a little. One last selfie as we walk out. Somehow we didn't get any tulips in the picture. Classic.

There you have our Tulip Festival Adventure in 30 pictures.