Can you believe I've lived in Seattle my whole life and never taken a trip to the tulip fields? A little over an hour outside of Seattle, farmers grow tulips like they do in Holland, fields and fields of tulips. They are only open to visitors one month of the year. Luckily, that month hit right during spring break and the grandparent visit.

It took me over two hours and I left the kitchen a total wreck, but I packed: lunch for six, that includes gluten and gluten free bread, several meats, cheeses, fruits, and dessert; snack for six including made-that-morning chocolate chip banana muffins; cameras and batteries for three (this involved a stop at the drug store for the batteries); spare clothes for six--why Grammie you look cold, can I offer you a hat?; a book on cd that all could agree on--The Saturdays; and two toy bags. No one is going to be hungry, cold, or bored on my watch!

The tulip fields were a delight. The place we stopped, Roozengarde, had formal gardens to wander around that mixed all the tulips in interesting color combinations. But the fields were my favorite part, huge swaths of brilliant yellow, red, purple. The kids' favorite parts were the exceptionally muddy roads between the fields. David adored hopping over mud puddles.

I had planned an additional trip to Rosario Beach for a hike, but after two hours at the gardens and the rains starting to arrive, we headed home. It's been hilarious to see all of my local facebook friends posting their tulip field trips--a Seattle institution I never knew.