Friday, April 17, 2009

Among the Tulips

Yesterday had some strong downs and ups. I'm still trying to get past the downs, so I'm only publishing the ups.

We went to the Tulip Festival.

I've been twice before, and have longed to return every April, but knew the toddlers would not find the car ride worth the flowers. Cory's class was canceled Thursday, so he suggested it. Roozengaarde's web site said the tulips weren't to their prime yet, but I doubted we'd get a second chance this year, so we picked Kaith up from school and drove straight up.

There's nothing like three acres of tulips to make one second guess the necessity of grass and dandelions back home. In my defense, our forsythia looks way better than their many hyper-pruned, under flowering specimens. All of the flower beds are labeled. Kaith tried sounding out some of the names, with decent success. "Garden Party" was a well-received name, although Miriam squealed and hopped more over "Pink Diamond." The hyacinths were all blooming, and their scent wafted poetically in the breeze.

After taking photos of the two children not in the stroller (Kaith and Miriam), I coaxed Trevor out of the stroller with the offer to let him photograph Cory and myself. At least one person stopped to gape at our family arrangements, with the four-year old taking photos at the adult-determined locations. Unfortunately, the best shot he got of me was when he zoomed in so much that he cut off all of Cory's head. We never did get a photo of Trevor. He only wanted to hold the camera. Once Sterling was out of the stroller, he wasn't going back, and waddled proudly in his over-sized shoes all over grass, gravel, and woodchips, around the beds.

4 comments:

Debbie said...

I'm glad your day ended better than it began.

Did Trevor take the picture of you and Cory? That was very well done.

When did Sterling get so big? He looks so mature in that picture.

Keira said...

That can't be Sterling. It can't.

Stephanie said...

Trevor took the picture, I cropped it down a lot and adjusted the contrast. Most of his photo practice has been "stolen," but he's done enough of it that I knew he could point and shoot. I did tell him where to stand.
Yes, that is Sterling. He starts nursery tomorrow . . . if only his nose is clean.

m_perfect said...

What a beautiful day! I remember another hopping, squealing little girl from another era. I hope this one doesn't "walk"** either!
(**ask your mom)