So I decided to head south of the border with my parents to go and see the tulip fields in La Conner, Washington. We planned to go on the Easter long weekend because my mom had extra days off of work and the weather was finally supposed to be nice. The plan was to see the flowers, shop at the outlets for a bit and maybe pick up a jogging stroller.
Here are some photos of our overnight in Washington state.
The drive down was pretty good. Babe was a little fussy off and on but she did fairly well considering she was in the car for over an hour. It was a lot of extra work for me to sit in the back and entertain her the whole time but again, it wasn't a really long drive.
I was really excited to see the tulip fields but alas, when we got to our destination there were no tulips to be seen. Boo. I remember asking my dad to call ahead and make sure they were blooming before we came...but I guess that didn't happen. I could have sworn he said he had checked - hmmmmmm. Anyway it was disappointing since it was the main reason we came.
There were however a few daffodil fields in bloom which were very pretty. But I got bored of yellow after awhile. I was really hoping that the tulips would bloom overnight but they didn't.
My dad had reserved us a two-bedroom suite in a local hotel, the La Conner Channel Lodge so that we wouldn't have to do all the driving with Babe in one day. It was great to be able to stay over because after a few hours in town Babe was getting pretty fussy and turning around and driving home would have sucked.
The hotel was really cute. Built right on the channel you can watch boats pass all day and hear frogs and crickets at night. This was the view from our room:
Unfortunately the two-bedroom suite wasn't exactly what we had in mind. The main room had a beautiful king-sized bed in it - perfect for my parents. But...the second bedroom didn't exactly suit Babe and I. I had decided against bringing her bassinet all the way there for one night and I planned on just letting her sleep in the big hotel bed with me. But when I walked into the second bedroom it was clear that wasn't going to work so well. The second bedroom with its pint-sized ship bunks was clearly intended for children.
Thank goodness I'm fairly short because I was still able to fit. Babe couldn't sleep in the other bunk because I wouldn't be able to roll over and feed her in the night. So we pulled the comforter off the other bed and grabbed a bunch of extra towels and Babe's blankets and made a padded area for Babe on the wooden edge of my bed against the wall. Don't worry - no part of my child touched the questionably clean hotel bedspread, it was only used for padding. I don't trust those things.
The rest of the room was perfect though, nice big bathroom, jacuzzi tub, cute porch and a fireplace.
We did a little shopping around La Conner that day. I bought one of these cool light bulbs at an antique lighting store (the bulbs aren't antiques) and we took photos of Babe in funny places. We finished the day with a great dinner at the La Conner Seafood and Prime Rib House. I had the macadamia nut encrusted halibut and vanilla creme brulee for desert. It was yummy.
The next morning I had a massage that my dad had generously booked for me. I think it was just his sneaky way of getting more time alone with the baby but it was super relaxing anyway, and since it was in house all I had to do was walk downstairs.
We then headed to the tulip gardens nearby just so we could say we had seen some of the elusive flowers. Here's the little outdoor field that was planted outside Tulip Town. It wasn't the same as the real thing but it gave me an idea of how the area would look once the fields bloomed. There was still a lot of green - even at the gardens.
After Tulip Town we stopped at the RoozenGaarde so my dad could order bulbs for the fall and we could have lunch. It was so sunny and warm that my little winter baby finally had a chance to take off her socks and explore the grass, another first.
After that we raced to the outlets so us girls could shop for an hour while my dad napped in the car and then raced back across the border before traffic got too backed up.
Just a quick little overnighter with Babe. Hopefully the next time Babe and I cross the border it'll be to visit my friend K in Washington, D.C. or to take Babe for a sleepover at my friend R's summer getaway.
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