Tiptoe Through The Tulips (but don't forget your coat)

Last Friday we decided to attempt a second visit to the famed Skagit Valley Tulip Festival a couple hours north of us.  Our first trip, a couple years ago, did not turn out well.  This time the weather forecast suggested the weather might be slightly more amenable.  

Do you know what happens when you trust weather forecasts?

An accident resulting in a six-mile back-up on our drive north caused our already long drive being maddeningly extended. 

We were also trying to coordinate meeting up with friends and Katie's family, which necessarily complicates matters when no one really knows exactly where we're supposed to be going.  

We first stopped at a little park hoping the kids could play with their friends and have a picnic lunch before heading off to see the tulips.  That's when we first began to distrust Mr. Weather App.  It's also where I realized Aubree had neglected to bring a jacket.  The wind was strong, biting, and frigid.  Our lunch kept trying to fly away.  Katie was supposed to meet us at the park, but her GPS took her... somewhere else.

Finally, we decided to head to Roozengaarde, one of the major tulip destinations.  After waiting in line to park, and waiting in line to pay, we finally made it into the gardens, which are indeed gorgeous.  

Thane LOVES getting his picture taken.

Aubree confiscated my camera and took boatloads of pictures of beautiful flowers.

A good indicator of how windy it was!

She also captured my side-kick (attached to my leg is how G spends a good portion of his time).

Finally, we managed to meet up with Katie and her family, and decided to trek out to the main tulip fields.  A major benefit of catching up with Katie, is that she happened to be wearing an extra jacket and graciously allowed Aubree to wear it.  Saved the day!  

As far as I'm concerned, the main reason for going to the tulip festival is to capture cute kid-in-tulip pictures.  We tried, but the cold and the wind made it tricky.

I'd made my kids all wear rain boots because the fields are known for being extraordinarily muddy.  Of course, this particular day they weren't too bad.  It was too bad that Graham's boots were slightly too big, and he didn't know how to walk in them well.  That meant he kept kicking them off or walking right out of them.  He managed to snag Piper's seat in their stroller for a while, which helped, but by the end of the day he needed to be carried more often than not.

Despite having Katie's jacket, pretty soon Aubree was begging, "Can't we just go hoooooome?"  My inner-whiner was saying the exact same thing, so we made a hasty retreat for the car.

I made the kids promise to remind me that in the future, we would only consider attending if the forecast called for sunny skies and 65+ degree weather!  I'm afraid I'll probably lose "legit Washingtonian" points for saying this, but... I'm afraid the effort just wasn't worth it!

Our trip wasn't totally unfruitful, though.  In addition to getting a few great pictures, all that time in the car resulted in some pretty fantastic conversations (one of the main reasons why we don't use a DVD player in the car - captive audience).  The kids and I talked in depth about all kinds of great things.  

At one point we started talking about college and the things you need to do to get into college.  That led to talking about how to pay for college, which eventually led to a discussion about scholarships.  We talked about different kinds of scholarships, and finally discussed private scholarships.  As an example, I explained to the kids, "Maybe Boeing offers a scholarship and a bunch of kids apply, but they only have a few to give out.  How do they choose who to give the scholarship to?  They consider grades, but they'll also look at other things you've done.  They might look at Aubree and notice she plays the violin and has been involved in orchestra.  They might look at Bryce and see that he's earned his Eagle Scout, and they'll have an idea of all that entails.  They might notice that Aubree has a heart for service, because she's been involved in helping out in many different areas..."  I continued on in this vein for a bit, suggesting ideas of ways of being of service, and additional items scholarship committees might consider.  

A few minutes later, however, I heard Bryce whimper crying behind me.  Surprised, I asked, "Bryce! What's wrong?!"

"It's just," he quivered, "I want to have a heart for service!"

Seriously, friends, my heart melted into a warm "maybe-we're-actually-doing-something-right-here" puddle.

"Oh, Bryce!," I assured him, "I was just using Aubree's name as an example.  You can have a heart for service too!"

"I can?!" he asked, relieved.  

Then I had a burst of inspiration.  "Actually," I told him, "you already do have a heart for service.  Every time you go to the store and you have your money with you, you always put some in the giving box.  You often pray for people who are sick or poor or need help.  You're always anxious to help out when the opportunity arises.  You'll have many additional opportunities to serve as you get older, but you definitely already have a heart for service."

Bryce beamed.

And from the far-back seat, Thane piped up, "I want to have a heart for service too!"

So... maybe it's worth a trip to the tulips again next year.