Tulip Festival 2016 - A trip to RoozenGaarde

I have wanted to go here since hearing about it when we first moved here....and finally we were able to make the trek! Every year, the town of Mount Vernon, Washington (about an hour and twenty minute drive north of Seattle) transforms for the month long Tulip Festival! There are several tulip farms in the area, but we settled on the RoozenGaarde with their authentic Dutch windmill.

RoozenGaarde was established in 1985 by the Roozen family (William Roozen emigrated from Holland in 1947) growing Tulips, Daffodils, and Irises - the largest in the country, covering Skagit Valley with more than 1,000 acres of field blooms and 15 acres of greenhouses.

Photo by Brock

It was amazing to see how the garden was designed - I can only imagine the work behind it planting all those bulbs in a specific pattern!!

Poor Kade was not prepared for his photo opp!

But really, with a background like that, he still looks so adorable!

Here's my attempt at a close-up of these beautiful flowers....

Brock was mostly good listening to the instructions.... definitely needed a bit of a reminder to not touch the flowers....

 

"But I'm SOOOO excited Momma!!"

 Here's a little video of him walking the tulip maze.

The varieties were amazing! I've never seen so many! It was nice that they labeled each one (also so you can order the bulbs shipped to your house for next year).

And here Brock is again... doing the opposite of what we told him...

Good thing we wore our boots because it was a bit muddy down in the field!

Here it is... the authentic windmill! A bit smaller than I thought it would be though. Guess I've got to travel to Holland to see the real thing!

 One more video for your viewing pleasure....

It was nice of the sun to come out right as we were leaving!! Oh well! :(


That's a wrap! Time to head home!