Tulip Time!

Plagued by an overwhelming case of spring fever and the need to get out and do something, and faced with the generous offer by Jon's bosses to use their condo on the big lake, we found ourselves forced to go out of town this past weekend and take in the sights of Holland, Michigan's Tulip Time! festival.  Twist our arm, right?  This was the first time that just the three of us had traveled and we were a little worried about the logistics of the long drive with Calvin and getting him to sleep in a house that wasn't his own.  We shouldn't have been worried.  On the trip out, Thursday evening, he babbled for 40 minutes, cried for 20, then slept for 90.  And lucky for us, after we arrived and gave him a bath and a quick cuddle, he went right back to sleep and slept the whole night!  He napped and slept well while we were gone, and the trip home was much the same, minus the 20 minutes of crying!  It seems that he has his parents' penchant for traveling.

All three of us really seemed to love the break from the routine, too.  Friday was a beautiful weather day and we had a great time checking out the tulips and the tourist spots;  at Dutch Village Calvin was intrigued by the flowers, enthralled by the farm animals, and only slightly worried about the carousel;  back in town he was still intrigued by the flowers, tickled by the dancers, and confused by eating outside;  and back at the condo he loved the walk down to the beach, was curious about the sand, and thought the waves were funny.  Saturday was cloudy and a little chillier, but it was still a fine day and we spent it visiting the local food haunts, with breakfast at the Windmill restaurant (what a line!) and lunch at the 8th Street Grille, and laughing at more flowers and more fun animals to pet.  We finished our visit with one last tourist stop, this one to Veldheer Tulip Gardens with its rows and rows of tulips and acres and acres of bison, as well as a wooden shoe factory.  It was a wonderful weekend and we really have to hand it to Calvin.  We asked a lot of him this weekend, expecting him to sleep in a strange place, miss naps and still be good in restaurants and interact with lots of strangers and strange things, but he adapted to the situation without flaw and that made the whole trip very enjoyable and very worth while.  He was certainly our little angel the whole trip!

 And of course there are tons of pictures in the May4-11 photo album.