Busy, busy May!

May has been a very busy month so far, and it isn't even over yet. I was fortunate enough in the beginning of the month to get away for a week with some really great women. It was my Mother-in-law's 63rd birthday, and Mothers day in the same weekend. What a great way to celebrate. We went to Pella, Iowa. Yes, I said Iowa. I know you are thinking "why Iowa?!" For the Tulips, of course!! We went for the 75th annual Tulip Time festival. Iowa has a huge Dutch heritage, and the Graham's have a profound fondness for all things Dutch. After all they did live in Holland for 8 years.
Now I can't say that everything about this trip was ideal, but we had a great time anyway. First of all it was cold.We had to shop at the local Walmart and find anything long sleeve, thick or warm. Gloves were even purchased. Luckily, all of the winter type clothing was on clearance. One day I even bought a winter ear/head band, because it was so cold.
The second bad part was that the tulips were past their prime. A lot of the gardens had what I call headless flowers. The petals had all fallen off. The tulips that were still there were pretty, but starting to look like these...
Even though we had our trials, we did get to see a lot and experience some great sights, and foods. We all joked that next time we need to bring our "eatin' pants". There were all kinds of great Dutch treats, Dutch pastries, and cheeses. the best were the fresh hot stroopwaffles and pooferjes. Delicious!!
The little town of Pella is really a beautiful place. They have the only working grain windmill in the US, they still grind grain there. They are also the home of Wyatt Earp's birthplace, and the Pella Window corporation.


We had to get our pictures taken in the little Dutch people shapes!
This was our whole group. My MIL, Carol, and SIL Jen, her friend Kim, and her mom Marilyn, and sister Kelly, and Millie Furlin, and friend of the Graham's who lived in Holland at the same time.
Millie and Carol.
Me, Carol and Jen

We visited a museum where the founder of Pella lived. We also saw the parade, and many other things. We watched a klompen maker make wooden shoes.
This was in the gardens of the Scholte Museum.
These were some of the prettier tulips. It was too bad that they weren't at their best while we were there, but they were still beautiful.
And no Dutch experience would be complete without a windmill, or two, or three. This is just one of many.
We stayed in some rustic cabins right at the edge of a lake near Pella. They were very nice, and had a lot of room. The rustic part meant that they had no dishes, utensils, linens, towels or anything. We had a kitchen, but only cooked breakfast once. I am looking forward to my MIL's 65th birthday, we decided we would go somewhere warm!