Tulip Time

It was long overdue for a fun family adventure. It's spring in Iowa... and you know... the Northern Hemisphere, so we thought it would be a fun time to hit up the Tulip Time festival in Pella Iowa. 

 That is, one week before the actual festival because why would any self respecting human being put themselves in a situation where there are 10,000 other non-self-respecting humans looking at flowers?

See where I'm coming from?

So, as we're driving down the highway to get there, we decide that we should also pass thru the Neil Smith National Wildlife Refuge since it's pretty much right off of the proverbial beaten path to path for us.

So we did.

These are some of the many thousands of ant hills that were visible to us.  Makes a fella wonder how many 1000's more were NOT visible??   The story behind these is that after a controlled burn, the ants build up there hills on the exterior so that it captures sunlight, and therefore warmth, during the day, and helps regulate temperatures inside the hill.

A couple of nearby bison...

Another bison who obviously thought it fashionable to shave it's rump.

And here is one of the ant hills up close and personal. What's kind of cool about this is that out on the pool pad of sand that we had built for the boy's swimming pool, there are miniature versions of these very hills as I type this.

So obviously, the landscape has changed. We're now in Pella, and in the town square.  With two beauties, I might add.

The one who flaunts his own sense of fashion, Robert James.

And the smaller Chinese boy who in photos like this, reminds me of my dad somehow.   I have no idea why or how, but I like it.  It's certainly not the first photo where that's occurred to me.

At the fountain.

The husband of an elderly lady who I literally bumped into several times offered to take a family photo for us.  I obliged and then told him I was sorry for running over his wife a good many times!

At the windmill with the cobblers shoes...

part duex...  not sure what the Dutch is for that...

Note the bright yellow shoes in the bottom left where the lads just had their pics taken.

The beautiful walking mall part of Pella.

Momma and a certain lovely Chinese boy!

A fountain Gazebo.

And two hams playing on a concrete Dutch letter....

We ended the day at the Tassel Ridge and Grape Escape wineries prior to heading home and planting gardens in the rain.

But I can assure anybody reading this, a great time was had by all!