Springtime

We are into April and the colors in Yakima are A-MAZ-ING!!
It's apple blossom and dogwood time around here.
A few more weeks and the petals will be gone making way for the fruits that we love...and that is good...but spring colors just don't last long enough!!

Speaking of dogwoods...
On Mother's Day 2012 I picked out a white dogwood tree and the next year it produced TWO blooms.
The next two years there might have been a handful more, but I was worried we'd gotten a dud.

This year though, it came to its senses and put on quite a show!

I'm going to love to watch this tree grow each year!

Spring also brought Easter and its usual egg dyers, nest makers and morning hunters

Hannah was sleeping in, having worked until nearly midnight the previous evening.  

But her special eggs were still hunted!

This year was the end of innocence when it comes to the Easter Bunny (and therefore Santa and the Tooth Fairy as well).  

Jenelle has been suspicious but her doubts were confirmed this year.  

It was time. 

But!  I'm still going to hide eggs and pay for teeth and put presents under the tree from Santa.

Why should the fun end here?

Springtime also means getting out of the house for walks and wildflowers!

Jenelle and I checked out a place we'd never been before called Snowmountain Ranch.

And spring is also time for tulips!

If they aren't growing in your yard, buy them!

Tulips make everything better!!

Too Many Tulips???

NOPE!

I didn't think it was possible...and now I know for sure!
There is no such thing as too many tulips!

So as I promised, I'm going to post so many tulip photos that you may decide that YOU don't like them anymore...but probably not.

You've been warned!

We started our road trip on Sunday morning and took an obligatory selfie before we head off!

Once we arrived and figured out where we were going, we drove the "tulip route".
There were some stop and go moments as cars moved in and out of the different nurseries.
Jenelle is a perfect travel companion for me.
She's never in a rush...doesn't mind detours or asking for directions.
Just happy to be on an adventure!

She took this cool picture of a barn while we were at a stand still.

There were so many of these Dutch barns around.

We chose to stop and spend time at a place called Tulip Town in Mt. Vernon, Washington.
This is pretty much your first impression!
Aaaahhhh!

My camera fingers were going crazy!
Jenelle was patient as long, in her words, as she was taking the pictures or having her picture taken!
Haha!
I did take a few of her!

The white tulips are her favorite!

The photographs that follow are the best of what I shot and I hope you enjoy them!
I'm currently working to close down my Etsy shop that sold lavender items and I've opened a new shop where I will sell my photography.
Many of these photos are listed and if you see one you really like, head over to my shop and let me know!!
Click here to see more!

We ended our visit to Tulip Town with a walk around the gift shop and a chocolate waffle cone for this gal who loves life...and chocolate!!

The next day we head out towards Whidbey Island to see a place called Deception Pass.
Stay tuned!

A Week in Pictures: 29 March - 5 April

3/29 - With Hannah in Europe and a big vacation planned for May, we decided that Spring Break for the rest of us would be a close to home (cheap) week.  Because we've had such an early spring, the tulip fields in Mt. Vernon were in full bloom, so I took Jenelle for an overnight trip.  We got a cheap Best Western hotel for the night and she was extremely excited when I told her she could jump on the bed.

3/30 - Meanwhile, Donald and Ivan camped overnight at a place they hike a lot near the Yakima Canyon.  They purchased a machete before they left Yakima so they could cut down brush for their tent, then set up camp and made spears and a fire.  Quite the opposite of our tulip expedition!

3/31 - The tulip fields were AMAZING and I will bombard you with more photos of tulips than you've ever wanted to see in a few days.  I could have bought tulips there, but Jenelle and I were going to take our time getting home the next day and I didn't want tulips to die in my van! But when we got home I picked some up at Fred Meyer because I had to have some in the house!  They are my favorite flower!!

4/1 - A delicious beans and rice recipe that Donald found and a cute son who is willing to make cornbread are ingredients for a great night!

4/2 - Donald and I went on a tour with rotary to a place called B Reactor in Hanford...just about 45 minutes away from Yakima.  It was the first full scale nuclear reactor built in the world...part of the Manhattan Project!  If the sound of that interests you at all, I really encourage you to take a minute to go here and read about it.  I can tell you that prior to our visit I wouldn't have given it a second thought, but it was fascinating to learn about it!  No kidding!  The site is actually becoming a National Park.  The picture I took was of the front face of the reactor and had over 2000 ports for the uranium fuel elements to undergo a nuclear chain reaction and produce plutonium that would be used for weapons.

4/3 - An afternoon walk in Cowiche Canyon...our backyard hiking area.  Ivan told me very matter of factly that I am not to "blog" about the hike...because I've done it too many times before.  So...I'm just slipping in one picture of the wildflowers that were growing there!

4/4 - And if I didn't have enough pictures of flowers for this week...here's one more.  Jenelle and I took a walk today around the neighborhood and I couldn't resist these white blooms against the incredible blue sky!