Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival

For those of you who aren't aware (and possibly don't care), this week finds us firmly in the midst of Thanksgiving Point's annual Tulip Festival. Lured by visions of thousands of colorful tulips in full bloom (and, I admit, thoughts of Bubby and her tulip fetish), Jeni and I decided to take advantage of yesterday's beautiful weather and take the kids. The entrance fee was a little pricey, but, we reasoned, it was worth it to enjoy such lovely spring weather and the doubtless entrancing sights that awaited us. I hope I don't sound too bitter--there were some things we enjoyed about the morning, but there were also some definite disappointments.

I suppose I should have suspected something was up when we arrived at the park in time for Andrew to announce that he was peeing (something he frequently does, incidentally, so I didn't take much notice of this as he was in diapers). But, of course, he was referring to the fact that he was leaking out of his diaper, and, of course, I didn't think to bring spare clothes. So my darling little boy got to spend the morning with hundreds of other people wearing a pair of Emi's capris (with pink embroidered roses around the hem).

Once we got inside the park, we were able to enjoy some nice views of the gardens and the truly exquisite day (sunny, not too hot, breezy). Andrew was even content to stay in his stroller for a little while. Unfortunately, although we saw lots of daffodils in bloom, we didn't see many tulips--apparently, many of them were not quite in bloom yet (although, from the number of planted tulip beds we saw, I'm not sure that even in full bloom the gardens would match the promise of the brochures). I managed to get a couple of photographs of tulip beds near the entrance--clearly where they've planted the early bloomers to lure in unsuspecting guests. (At any rate, Trisha doesn't need to feel bad about not being able to come up for the show--she's not missing a whole lot.)



We took the kids up the top of a small rise (replete with pillars) where it turns out a young lady was having bridal photographs taken (the kids all wanted to know what she was doing). Jeni let Emi out of the stroller to run down the spiral walkway leading up to the hill, and of course, Andrew insisted on doing the same. Which would have been fine, had he stopped, like Emi did, at the bottom of the hill. But Andrew, having had his taste of freedom, would not be bound, and, with a thoroughly mischevious look back at me, proceeded to flee fleet-foot across the grass to dodge behind a small guided tour. At times like this, I realize the disadvantages of not appearing seven-months pregnant--the people who saw me desperately chasing Andrew (he's faster than I am, at this point) were more inclined to smile at Andrew than offer to help me. I did finally catch him and, much chastened, secured him in his stroller again (needless to say, he wasn't very happy about this arrangement).



Jeni and I decided that the park was much larger than we'd initially realized--although at least we got our exercise for the day--and that gravel paths are not very conducive to pushing strollers (especially not the double stroller Jeni was wielding). We finally stopped for lunch in the children's gardens, which Emi and Andrew enjoyed exploring. (Jacob, who was worn out from having walked the first mile or so of the park trail, was happy to just stay in the stroller). I managed to get this picture of Andrew seconds before he walked out of my screen. He and Emi were particularly taken with a series of small bronze statues of a duck and her ducklings--you can see Andrew trying to sit on one of the unfortunate ducklings.

After briefly exploring the children's gardens, Jeni and I decided it was time to head home--even if the kids weren't done, we were (well, to be technically accurate, I was). Andrew, of course, refused to get back in the stroller and tried again to run away from me. The second time was much less amusing than the first and I finally had to literally collar him. He was only placated by his sight of the manmade waterfalls, which were possibly the best part of the gardens. The kids especially liked being able to walk behind one of the waterfalls and put their hands through slits in the rocks to touch the falling water. (Unfortunately, in the two pictures I took of the waterfalls, Andrew is either turned away from the camera or looks developmentally challenged, so I'm not going to post them).

We finally managed to get all the kids loaded in the car and were headed back to Provo when Jeni's minivan started making strange noises. She pulled off in American Fork, intending to ask Samuel (who's office is near downtown AF) what was going on, when something popped, followed by a distinctly skunky smell, and the loss of her power steering. We pulled into a parking spot off Main Street and had to call Samuel and my mom to come rescue us (as we couldn't fit all four car seats in either of their cars). At all events, our rescuers arrived and Samuel was able to find a nearby mechanic (apparently the carburetor belt broke), so that worked out okay. Still, it was a rather adventurous end to our adventurous morning.