Pella Tulip Festival

Some of you may remember us and my sister Katie going to the Tulip Festival last year. We had such a wonderful time, we all went back this year! To start off...a little then and now action!

Dallas in his first pair of wooden shoes...

They fit a little better this year!

Our family at the 2008 Tulip Festival

2009 Tulip FestivalThe weather was awesome for this year's show. Unfortunately, the tulips were getting close to the end of their blooming stage. There were still many beautiful flowers to see...like these:

This year Grandpa and Gram Bergman were able to join us and Aunt Katie... Doug liked this tractor the best in the parade

Dallas having a ball at the festival

Before the parade started we enjoyed a good Dutch treat called poffertjes. They looked like tiny pancakes, but are sweeter. We had them with powder sugar, strawberries and whip cream...Dallas loved them as well!

This year in addition to seeing the tulips, we decided to take a tour of Vermeer. Think you have heard that name before? Does this help ring a bell?

Yep, they are known for their round hay balers. They are also very well known for their trenching and ditching equipment. The Vermeer Company world headquarters are in Pella, IA.

The founder of the company, Gary Vermeer, just passed away this past February, at the age of 90! His wife still lives in their small, non-air conditioned, one-story home across the road from the Vermeer plant. Anywho...they have a wonderful museum at the plant.

I didn't take too many pictures, but they have this awesome wall mural showing the different products Vermeer makes.

(The house in the above picture is Gary's home)

Well, that's all for now. I have a short video of some Dutch street dancers, but that will have to wait until another day for me to upload it.

Until next time...