Tulip Festival Eve

T'was the day before the Tulip Festival and all thru the garden every creature was stirring, especially the humans. 

And that is as far as that cleverness goes. Haha. It was a beautiful day and since it was the day before the Tulip Festival officially began, I think everyone decided to take advantage of the cheaper price to check out as many tulips at they could. It was pretty crowded. But the nice thing about the Gardens is that they are so large that even when it's busy, we still have plenty of room to run and play.

Bennett showing us the flowers.

It is nearly impossible to get all three kids to look at the camera AND smile at the same time without Jason's help. So I usually only attempt a few pictures before giving up. But it does make for some fun outtakes.

The boys picked a spot by the koi pond for our picnic. The funny thing was, we never actually made it to the pond to feed the fish. We stopped by it to eat, then after lunch Bennett had to go to the bathroom so we packed up and headed to there. I am surprised the kids never noticed or asked to go back to feed the fish.

Cooper eating his sandwich.

Tessa enjoying her squeeze packet

Because the bathrooms are closest to the large waterfall, we did things in a different order this time. Normally the waterfall is last, but since we were already there, we played by it first before heading back to the rest of the gardens.

Yes, Bennett is indeed forcing Tessa's head to turn so she was looking at the camera. Bennett has been the best at poising for pictures lately and he was trying to help the others cooperate. It didn't work.

Tessa saw some older kids counting for their game of hide and seek so she decided to start counting as well. The older kids never noticed but it made me smile.

We went back to check out the new Light of the World exhibit. Tessa's favorite part was playing with the rocks.

Cooper

Bennett very sweetly asked me if he could sit on Jesus's lap.

Tessa helping Jesus feed the chickens. She kept picking up little pebbles and putting them in His hand.

The Secret Garden fountain.

These pretty little cranes were hanging from trees on our way out of the gardens. Bennett had fun spinning the string and watching them dance.

One last attempt at a group picture failed. At least they are smiling.

It was supposed to be overcast with a low UV index so I didn't even think about sunscreen. It ended up being sunny and very warm so we all had pink noses and cheeks after four hours of walking around. But it was such a beautiful and relaxing day! I think we all enjoyed ourselves.