Tulip Time 2011!

Bella's second Tulip Time proved to be much much better than her first as we had perfect weather rather than windy and cold. She had lots of fun going uptown to play, eating poffertjies, dancing along with the Dutchesses, and petting every puppy she spied. Seeing Bella dance like the Dutch dancers was quite amusing, especially since she wanted to get out in the middle and perform for the crowd. I think she'll be a good little dancer! However, the petting puppies obsession was not nearly as cute as Mommy and Daddy had the pleasure of asking a ton of random people if our daughter could pet their dog. :) Oh well, she loves her animals!

We walked in the baby parade just one afternoon this year. It falls right during her nap time, so we only wanted to move around her normal nap time one day. Plus, pregnant Mommy didn't want to wear the lovely dress more than once. :)
We were a little nervous about walking in the parade since A) Bella is not a fan of strollers and we figured we would be carrying around a 2 year old the whole time and B) Bella likes to help push the stroller and often throws a fit if she doesn't get to do it. Both of our assumptions proved true. :) However, she still had fun for a good part of the parade. She perfected the art of waving at everybody and blowing kisses! Here she is waving at Grandpa Doug and Grandma Sheri.
Watching the afternoon parade. She wasn't too interested in sitting and watching the parade as she had too many other things to do, like running around like a crazy lady.
Another reason I was very thankful we took pictures of Bella pre-Tulip Time is that she was absolutely not interested in taking pictures the actual day. We attempted to take a picture before the parade with Derek's parents, but she wasn't a big fan of that idea as she just wanted to go walk and run. Hence the mad expression on her face. :)
Bella did like standing in the big wooden shoes, however, so her picture with Great-Grandma Vermeer was much more successful!
She decided to even take a rest in them. :)
Bella's picture with my mom and dad worked out a little better since she had gotten a chance to burn off some energy by this point. :)

Our whole little Dutch family!

A picture of Mommy and Bella back at home! Daddy had ditched the costume already for some reason. :)

There was a Kids Corner uptown that we took Bella to each day. She had sooo much fun playing with everything. Bella even got to make her first crafts- sand art and painting a rock (with Mommy's assistance so she didn't paint herself). Naturally, one of Bella's favorite things was going down all the various slides!

There was also a little jumping house which she loved as well!

Bella particularly liked being in there when other little girls were present. She is definitely identifying with girls and always wants to play with them.

Jumping in the ball pit! She also found a fun activity by laying in there and swimming in the balls.

Cooking for Mommy in the playhouse. We were hoping she would like this as she is getting an outdoor playhouse for her birthday this year!

We also took Bella to her first night parade this year on Saturday night. Last year, we attempted to bring her, but were unsuccessful. Derek didn't think this year would be successful either since our little lady likes to be on the go. However, I thought she would be interested enough in the parade to want to sit and watch it. Well, without saying who was right, Bella loved watching the parade. :) Seeing the horses, a float that was an ice cream truck, the fire trucks, and the bands were all among her very favorites. We still discuss watching the parade and everything that she saw. All in all, it was a very fun Tulip Time for us!