My Birthday Party

If you count the sheriff, I had 30 friends and family who came to my open house birthday party but I forgot to ask the sheriff if he wanted a piece of cake or pop. He came because my sister locked her keys in her car. (They still help with things like that in rural Iowa.) He brought the tools and several family members helped but it was Mark who got it open.

My dad was the oldest person to attend. He commented, “Not too many people get to go to their child’s 70^th birthday.” Family resembled each other. You could see that my son looks so much like his grandfather. My daughter and her children and grandson have similar eyes. 

The person who was the most photogenic though was my great grandson, Carter.  He is sooo cute and was so happy. Everyone wanted to hold him.

  

Thanks to the people who attended the party, gave food, cards and gifts.  Thanks also to the people who sent cards, gifts, and emails. Thanks to Terry who worked so hard on the yard and supported me to get the party together to make this birthday such a happy one.   

Pella's Tulip Time

My granddaughter, Kari, asked me to go to Pella’s Tulip Time with her but would turn her head when I wanted to take her photo.  Okay, I got you Kari, even if your mouth is full.

Kari’s friends, Missy and Mike and I found seats behind the queen’s court just to the right of the Tulip Toren. It’s a good thing that we saw the tulips in April because they were all gone by Tulip Time. This year’s queen, Alexa Zylstra, even carried silk tulips. Her whole court is standing under the Tulip Toren as they were introduced to the audience.

 

We watched the Dutchesses dance beneath the 130-foot tall 1850 replica of an Old Dutch mill called the Vermeer Mill. 

 Then we returned to our seats to watch the hundred or so people in Dutch dress as they scrubbed the streets in preparation for the parade. Even the little kinder helped.

 
 

   

The evening parade was beautiful. Bands from as far away as Missouri marched the route. Floats depicting tugboats, the dress of the ladies of each province, and even Sinter Klaus were in the parade but that my favorite float this year was the Delft Float which depicted the Delft tea service that Mareah Scholte had shipped to the USA when she immigrated. (Most of her dishes were broken in route.) Notice there are people in the cups.  If you want to see the photos larger, double click on the left side of photo.