The actual Tulip Time festival this year was so great, I felt sentimental about every little detail. I was just a thin thread of emotional control away from hugging windmills, crying over the taste of poffertjes, and taking pictures of random tourists who were taking pictures. Wait, I did that last one. But only once! The only bummer was that my oldest got sick and had to miss out on much of the fun. I told him there's always next year, which I am in no position to guarantee since who knows what our career future (and therefore zip code) holds, but as I said I was already weirdly sentimental and I was offering the hope of next year's festival as much to myself as to him. Which goes to show how much I love Tulip Time.
However. My session taking picture of my children in Dutch costumes was not as smooth and painless as I'd hoped. I know you are rolling your eyes. You mean suiting your children up into strange costumes and traipsing them around in a garden to get semi-formal pictures wasn't the best Friday night for all involved? Really?! But, dear reader, this is my jam. Photography. My children. Tulips. Weird seasonal traditions. Just typing the words makes me giddy. And lots of people get a rush from things that nearly kill them. This is my version of that. (And you could argue that this time it nearly did kill me. At one point my son complained that he hated the very sound of my camera going "click." How he- errr, I mean I- survived that comment is a miracle.
Seems I still have a little to learn. But it wasn't an absolute nightmare, so I'll count that as a win and move on. Each child contributed to the beautiful celebration of imperfection in their own way. My daughter refused to brush her hair, or tuck in her shirt. My littlest actually plucked several tulips from their stems- a huge no-no here. (If you are from my town and read this, for the love please do not report us.) Also, his neckerchief was missing. My oldest son was so kind as to put on his own costume while I dressed the littles. I was so grateful for his help! Then we got to the gardens, and I went to tuck in his shirt. I found he had left on his school pants underneath his costume pants... which were a full two inches shorter. Ah, well. That't the beauty of being a recovering perfectionist. Learning opportunities come at you. every. moment.
Without further ado, my 2014 tulip kid pics:
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| Love the third child 'tude. Plus, my oldest's pant situation. And the soccer socks. I can't even. |
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| I love this pic so much. But the pants... |
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| What if they were this happy getting out the door in the morning every day? |
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| Hugs because big brother gave her the broken stemmed tulip he'd found. |
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| Those cute grubby fingers were in trouble for picking that tulip! (But first I took the picture.) |
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