Twins & Tulips

Elsie & Ava are 4!  We were thinking of taking them to the castle in Utrecht for some birthday fun, but then we decided that we need to see Keukenhof as much as possible while we live here.  Keukenhof is the world famous spring garden here in Holland filled with 7 million tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths.  It's only open for a couple months each year and E & A's birthday was the perfect time to go.  I had been looking forward to this for awhile and I had the perfect spring outfits for the girlies to wear.  Too bad it was SO chilly!  Here they are before we left, not wanting to have their picture taken...

Everybody cries on their birthday around here…the bunch of bipolar babies!

And here they are at Keukenhof, just as cute as they can be...

They should be wearing winter coats, but the fashionista in me had them wear spring jackets and capri leggings.  And the mother of the year award goes to...

Elsie & Ava are loving living in Holland.  They love riding around in the bakfiets, going to parks, and trying to speak Dutch.

Elsie is our little drama queen.  When she is happy, so is SO sweet, but when she is cranky she is INTOLERABLE.  She's been that way since birth.  She loves: singing, playing dress-up, drawing, and taking baths.  She hates: sharing, being left out, and any type of insect.

Ava is our strong willed little cutie.  She is pretty even tempered, but nobody pushes her around.  K is always saying lately that she would much rather play with Elsie because "Ava's so sassy," but I translate that as "not easy to boss around."  Ava loves: helping cook dinner, playing outside, saying prayers, coloring, and being with the crowd.  She hates: being hungry (I know everyone hates that, but this chick is ALWAYS hungry) and going to bed.

Believe it or not, I was selective about which pictures to post.  It was just SO beautiful, there were photo ops at every turn.  Here is our day in photo form, because a picture is worth a thousand words (I'll probably add some words too though).

That's us on the left

Getting some play time in.  We went with our pals, the Shurtliff's.

Carver wanted to cross this bridge too, but I gave him a big fat NO.

Get used to those mint pants that I'm wearing, because they are my new fav and I wear them ALL the time. 

These tulips were HUGE…biggest I've ever seen.  

We pick-nicked under this pretty tree...

…and sang to E & A before they dove in to these mini cakes.  The rest of us had stroop waffles.

I rediscovered my love for tulips...

…and developed a new obsession with orchids!

'Mom, seriously - we couldn't care less about orchids'

Documenting some wedding decor inspiration…some day this will come in handy. 

The next day (Sunday) was the girls actual birthday.  As soon as they woke up, we gave them their presents...

They love pet shops!

This is too hilarious - K busted out a full dollhouse and paper doll family that she had been working on secretly for weeks for the girls's birthday.  She made it out of a shoebox, paper, crayons, and tape.  I think we have a future crafter on our hands...

Paper dollhouse - complete with bedrooms, backyard, trampoline, and paper doll family.

In 1 short week, Ry's mom will be here and we will be making the rounds to all the greats (kinderdijk, amsterdam, delft, etc.).  A trip to Keukenhof is definitely in the plans, and I can't wait to go back when even more flowers are in bloom.