Tulip Time Part 2...VolksParade

Wednesday was the VolksParade.

The kids all had half days of school on Wednesday and Thursday for Tulip Time.

Evan marched in all three parades...

The VolksParade

The KinderParade

and

The MuziekParade.

They start the VolksParade with the traditional "street scrubbing" with everyone wearing traditional Dutch costume.

Mom and dad came up for the day to see Evan march in the parade and then to see Nate's ballgame that night. 
Smile dad!

Both Wednesday and Thursday were unseasonably hot for May.

And that led to a bit of "whining" from Nate, LOL.

Geeg teased him and said he's now referred to as...

"Diary Of A Whiney Kid".

I always love the colorful flags at the beginning.

The governor of Michigan...Rick Snyder.

Zeeland's Cityside Marching Band.

Mr. Good does such an awesome job with our middle school kids.

I personally think the middle school has always sounded as good (or better) than our high school!

Some of the floats...

More floats...

And a few more...

And the reason we go to the parades...

Zeeland High School Marching Band.

Evan is still playing his trumpet.

We're very proud of him.

Here they come!

I see Evan back there!

There he is!

Do you see him?

Cool Ronald McDonald entertained the crowds as well.

Hudsonville Dairy.

These guys are so cool.

They dance choreographed little routines in the streets, playing their spoons and scoops.

Doing "Sound Off" rhymes.

It's pretty neat.

Cityside's 7th grade band.

They are pretty great too!

More floats.

I loved the bear on this float.

He talked and growled about Tulip Time.

He was pretty cute.

The End!

We couldn't have asked for better weather...

Well...

Maybe a little cooler!

But hey, we'll take it!

Happy Tulip Time!

Tulip Time '11...Part 1

Tonight we went downtown Holland for Tulip Time.

We started off our evening...where else?

The food venders!

Who can resist all that greasey festival food?!?

I even heard one lady on the sidewalk say, "Well there goes my diet for this week!"

Here's Nate enjoying our funnel cake together.

Funnel cakes are one thing we can all agree on and enjoy.

Here's Ev enjoying his portion.

Evan was eyeing the deep fried pickles and steak sandwiches.

Nate was just dying for something to drink.

I had my eyes on corndogs, onion rings, fries, and cotton candy, LOL!

(We didn't get all that...we just enjoying "sniffing" it all!  We just got our funnel cake and took a bag of cotton candy home.)

Sometimes I think this is what heaven must smell like!

After stopping off at the "Sandcastle" toy shop for a bit, we went down to Centennial Park.

We walked around for a bit and looked at the tulips and Nate did a little pose for me in the street scrubbing girl's outfit, LOL!

My little "Natina".  Hehe!

The boys always give in and let me snap a few pics every year.

They are so nice to humor me.

Me and my babies.

I'm glad they'll still hang out with me every once in a while.

(As long as there's food involved I can usually bribe them, LOL!)

They both decided to get a little silly and pose in the Dutch Dancer frames.

A couple little ducks stopped by the fish pond for a swim.

In all the years we've gone to Centennial Park, I don't think I've ever seen a duck in there!

About 15 minutes before they were supposed to begin, they cancelled the Dutch Dancing for tonight (bummer!) due to severe weather.

It started raining just a bit, which is permitted, but once the lightening started, they had to call it quits.

We were bummed but we had a fun night out anyway and are looking forward to the three parades later in the week.

Evan will be marching with the band.

We are just praying for good weather!

Happy Tulip Time!

"I'll love ya more!"

Nate was trying to convince Evan to do something for him...

Nate:  "Come on...please...I'll love ya more..."
Evan:  "Ewww...yuck...ya grosser!"
Nate:  "Ok...I'll love ya less...please..."

LOL...guess ya had to be there...it was pretty funny!

Knowledge is power!

I am learning...

That perfection isn't always ideal...

It's someone's "best" that matters.

I am learning...

That "different" isn't bad...

And we need to not only accept people's differences, but embrace them.

I am learning...

That my preconceived ideas about some things are changing...

As I learn more about those things.

I have not lowered my standards.

But I now realize, that maybe some are incapable of what "I" expect.

And who am "I" to set those expectations?

Knowledge is power...

It overcomes fear and frustration!

Looks like the Easter Bunny stopped by someone's house!

There must be some good little boys here!

Nate found his basket!

Looks like Evan located his too!

What did we get?

Haulin' out the loot!

McDonalds gift cards, chocolate rabbits, Reese's Pieces "carrots", Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Nerds Ropes.

Happy Easter all!

Christ is risen!

Easter "Eve"...dying eggs...

Let the silliness begin!

There is something about holidays, activities together, and the boys and all silliness breaks loose.

This was the good shot of Evan...you should have seen the one before it. 

I'm a good mom, I promptly deleted it and promised not to post it. ;)

Those silly boys.

Thankfully as silly as we were, no dye ended up on the table, floor, or our clothes.

We had a few purple/pink fingers though.

Yes, I'm a dork.

I get in on the silliness too.

I say Nate looks like he's about to sneeze.

Excuse my nasty hair, lack of make-up, and glasses.

Cutie patootie!

It's a wrap!

We're done!

More Easter Goodness!

I made some more Easter cookies to get in some more practice with Royal Icing.  I do believe I have finally found my favorite sugar cookie recipe and favorite Royal Icing recipe...though I'm always open to new suggestions!

"Happy Easter!"

"Huh?"

"You look funny!"

"My tail hurts."

"He is risen!"

I love the little letters.

I think they're so cute.

The finished product.

And I didn't even stress out this time.

They were pretty tasty too!

Yummy-licious!

Yum yum yum!