Tulip Trip

Last week a friend called and asked if we could watch her daughter for a few days while she and her husband celebrated a wedding anniversary.  Considering her daughter is one of Aubree's favorite friends, it was a no-brainer.  

You may have already noticed, but in case it's not abundantly clear let me explain something - Aubree has inherited the Graff tendencies towards over-enthusiasm.  "Are you kidding me?" she squeaked when I told her Alison would be staying with us, "she'll even come to church with us?!?  Eeeeeeeee!!"

The next step was for her to immediately start planning what she wanted to do with her friend for the weekend (another strong Graff-linked trait).  We finally settled on visiting the famed Tulip Festival in Skagit County.  

The weather forecast for the day didn't look promising, but it was either deal with bad weather with Mark, or wait for nicer weather and brave the trip without Mark (or Alison).  I opted to risk the rain.

But maybe I should have tried to muster up more courage.  While the tulips were indeed breathtakingly gorgeous, the freezing rain and wind were equally breathtaking.

The indoor exhibits, while not spectacular, were at least warm.

[Side note: When I did the girls' hair that morning, Alison asked me to put hers up in a side ponytail.  I had flashbacks to asking my mom to do the exact same hairstyle 25 years ago.  Welcome back, 80's!]

Once we stepped outside, however, the main focus became keeping small children from crying from cold or slipping into the mud.  I pulled out my camera, ready to take the amazing kids-in-a-tulip-field pictures, but mostly managed to capture the I'm-freezing-how-long-do-we-have-to-stay-outside faces.

Our weather luck was just a couple of days off.  By Monday, the sun was shining such that we couldn't stand to stay inside, so Family Home Evening became Family Out Evening.

Undisputed hanging champ

Playing freeze tag with Bryce & Dad

Putting his monkey skills to good use

We loved having Alison stay with us.  Having another girl around meant a lot more chatter and giggles, and a lot less sleeping.  Alison and Aubree were especially proud of this puzzle they independently assembled and begged us to take a picture of their accomplishment.

When it was time for Alison to leave, she paused and asked, "Can I come back for a play date soon?"  

I'd say that's strong evidence the weekend was a success.