Tip-Toe Through the Tulips (3)

So, by now you've hopefully seen our tulip trips part 1 and part 2. So here are just a few more shots of our trip. Needless to say, the weather cleared a bit while were eating and rained the entire time we were in the tulip fields...but that adds to the adventure. Apparently we've all adjusted to living here (all of us hailing from CA or LA), because out of 7 adults, only 3 brought coats, and only one of those had a hood, 3 of us were wearing lightweight hoodies, and the rest were wearing lightweight sweater-type clothes. Dante had a nice, warm, water-proof, hooded jacket, and Teagan had an actual raincoat!

We actually had 3 umbrellas in our car (shocking as true Washingtonians do not carry umbrellas! Yeah~whatever!), plus Donna had one. Then I broke into our car emergency kit (yay! I finally got to use it!) and pulled out the 2 tarp-like rain ponchos in it. We traded items around...I ended up w/my hoodie, a lightweight hood-less jacket and a blanket from our trunk to protect my camera (frankly I didn't care about a jacket for myself, it was the camera I was worried about!). I had no fashion pride that day! Greta and  Tiffany also broke any fashion sense and wore the plastic ponchos (they probably stayed the driest!). James refused a poncho and wore his hoodie like a man! (But he did take an umbrella for Dante.) Danielle was the only bright one who actually wore a fashionable hooded coat! Mom had a pretty coral colored trench and umbrella and Donna had come prepared with warm vest and umbrella. Teagan delightedly claimed the prettiest umbrella in the bunch, a Monet Water Lilies umbrella courtesy of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation that I've had for years. So off we all trooped. Brightly colored, fairly unfashionable, and most of us quickly drenched in no time flat. But happy as could be!

While we stopped on the road to photograph fields fewer times than in the past when we had gone on sunny days, I think we still got our fill of tulips. We went to one of the main tulip growers in the region, Roozengaarde, where they have beautiful display gardens as well as access to their fields. In fact, the majority of my close up pictures of tulips were taken at Roozengaarde. Their facility is wonderful and they truly make their gardens a delight to wander through!

While we initially started out as a group, we quickly scattered off into smaller groups of ones or twos as it is easy to get lost in the wonder of the colors of these incredible flowers! And Roozengaarde makes it even easier to get lost in the wonder of it all as they make their grounds so whimsical...you never know what you might run across...

Frogs showering under a watering can...

Or perhaps a Frog Prince sitting in front of his windmill...

It makes you wonder who might live in this windmill???

And of course, there's the magic of tulips growing not in ground but high up in trees!

And the flowers themselves take on different forms...are they flowers or magical rivers in an enchanted garden?

Between the flowers and the whimsical things around every turn, children were as happy as adults here. The only cries you heard was when it was time to leave. It's just that sort of place: even in the rain!

Teagan was delighted with it all and kept forgetting to stay close and you would find her standing, staring at flowers, holding her precious umbrella, singing softly to herself. (This completely delighted several of the workers there!)

As for Dante, he too was enchanted....he kept pointing at all the bright colors with ooohhhhs and aaaahhhhs and Pretty! He usually wants to go, go, go but this day he was fairly content to be up high in Daddy's arms where he could see everything.

He just didn't know where to look as there was so much around to delight the eye! I think this is what he was looking at just then...

Below are some of my favorite pictures from the day. I was photographing Dante and Daddy in the bright tulips and then Teagan joined them of her own accord. Dante was so happy to see her and she was so happy to be near him. I love it. And the colors, of course, are incredible!

It was while I was taking these that everyone seemed to congregate at this exact spot and declare that (perhaps) they were wet enough for the day! Greta took off and the rest of us gratefully trooped over to where huge clear plastic tents had been set up on the lawns over-looking the tulip fields and went inside to get out of the rain, shed extra layers, sit down, and compare our joyous excitement.

As for Auntie M, I went off in search of a long-promised treat for Teagan-Rose. Of course, the vendors only took cash and the only ATM was at the park entrance so off I trooped again. But eventually I made it back to the shelter tents with the biggest chocolate eclair funnel cake ever! Teagan's eyes about popped out of her head! (What she didn't know and never realized, so concentrated was she on eating, was that I had brought extra forks and a few of us did dip into her treat at times.)

When Mommy suggested that perhaps she'd eaten quite enough of her treat for that day, she shook her head and began eating not only with her fork but also with her other hand! With great gusto!!! LOL!!! She didn't quite manage to finish the whole thing (and grown ups quickly devoured it!) but she gave it her all! How is this for a look of satisfaction??

While the grown ups blathered on, the cousins communed in silence and smiles.

Doesn't it seem as though these two have their own secret language?

Whatever they're saying seems to make them happy!

And what can be more fun than exploring a big tent--with clear walls??? This, of course, presents the challenge of trying to escape!

Teagan didn't want Dante to escape, 

so she decided to pick him up & move him...

...while standing right next to that gigantic spike

that was just waiting to crack open a head

or knock out a tooth or poke out an eye...

...grown ups protested this move...

...Teagan protested our protestations (nicely)...

(I'm not gonna drop him! I'm strong!)

...and over walks a mother to spoil all their fun! Parents!

Then eventually, of course as all excursions do, the time came to leave. This event Teagan protested more loudly: "But I love it here! ... But I love Dante! ... But I want to be with Dante! ... But leaving makes me sooo sad!" All these heart-wrenching and true excuses to stay were sadly nixed by the grown ups who (unlike the kids) were starting to feel cold & tired.

Notice Teagan is headed after her cousin, 

not her mother!!! LOL

Turned out Teagan was heading in the correct direction and all the adults in her party had to turn around and follow her anyway!

About 5 minutes after getting in the cars both (untired) kids promptly feel asleep. But Teagan has talked about going back to the tulips ("Not flowers, Auntie M, Tulips!) Frankly, I want to go back too!

This was near the exit as we left.

And as it has rained (a nice, soft rain) the past couple days (after days of lovely sun), perhaps the tulips are still blooming and haven't been de-bloomed yet (that's how they preserve the bulbs).

These pictures are from a previous trip...gorgeous, no?

Hmmm, yes, I think another car trip is calling my name!

Tip-Toe Through the Tulips (2)

Ready for some pretty pictures???

Well then, come tip-toe through the tulips with me....

Needless to say...I have many more pictures. 

But I'll save those for sharing on yet another day.

Beauty Tips

Below is a wonderful poem Audrey Hepburn wrote when asked to share her “beauty tips.”

It was read at her funeral years later.

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone…

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.

This goes out to all the beautiful women in my life!

Q: What do Neti Pots and CPAP Machines have in Common?

A: You should always use distilled water when using these products. Never use tap water!

Those suffering from sinusitis, allergies, and colds might turn to their trusty neti pot or squeeze bottle to flush their nasal passages and relieve their chronic symptoms. Although the practice of nasal cleansing has been around for centuries, these modern-day products are not free from dangers and negative side effects.


In 2011, two people died from encephalitis caused by an infection with brain-eating amoebas after using neti pots that contained contaminated tap water. (By the way, for my dear friends from Louisian, both these people were from good ol' LA!)
The microbe, Naegleria fowleri, is common in lakes, rivers, and hot springs, and may also be found in drinking water. It's now strongly advised that people use distilled or filtered water for their nasal irrigation device and clean them thoroughly to kill potential amoebas.

While the directions that came with my CPAP machine did say to only use distilled bottled water in the humidifier devise, I do not recall my neti pot (that I purchased about 5 years ago) coming with such a warning--or at least I don't remember one. In fact, I only recall, it simply saying to use warm water.


But my memory isn't what it used to be. All I know is that all I've ever used in my neti pot was tap water! Yikes!

Frankly, I thought that the CPAP machine wanted you to use bottled water in order to avoid hard water, like we have in SoCal--that stuff could destroy the machine in no time flat. So I have faithfully used distilled water in my precious CPAP machine; even more faithfully after reading about these amoeba-related deaths!!


Because, logically speaking, if warnings are now going out about only using distilled water in one's neti pot to avoid brain-eating amoebas it only makes sense that one use distilled water in one's CPAP machine for the same reason.

As a side note, our stomachs can handled them, because of the acid, but when they are forced directly into the nasal passages, they head straight for the brain, which doesn't have all that protective acid.


Anyway, I've been meaning to pass on this information for months now (since I first heard about it in December or January), but this week's episode of House reminded me that I never did. It's either really amazing or really sad how many weird things on House that I can relate to in my real life in one way or another!


By the way, distilled water: by definition, involves boiling the water and then condensing the steam into a clean container. It's a slow process, but it not only kills any micro-organisms much like simple boiling does, but also removes any inorganic "impurities" that may be harmful like mercury as well as beneficial minerals including calcium, magnesium, and sodium. Distillation does not discriminate.

Because few people have homes where they can have a distillery set up, it is easier to buy distilled bottled water. My grandparents, however, had a home water distillery for as long as I can remember and my grandmother would only ever drink the water they carried with them where ever they went!

In case you need more proof or want to read the gruesome details for your self, visit these sites:
-NPR's Health Blog: Second Neti-Pot Death from Amoeba Prompts Tap-Water Warning

-ABC News: Louisiana Issues Neti Pot Warning After Two Fatal Infections (fun video with this one!)

-Medical News Today: Brain-Eating Amoeba Kills Two People After Using Neti Pots (doesn't this headline sound like the amoebas were using the neti pots before they then headed out and killed people???)

-Fauquier Ears Nose Throat Consultants Blog: Amoeba Deaths from Neti-Pot Use and How to Minimize Risk

Want more: there are a truckload of news and blog articles listed on Google.

If you are wondering why on earth I posted this, it's because I wrote it for my fibromyalgia support group, but some other people expressed interest as to why I was reading articles about brain-eating amoebas...and "just for fun" wouldn't satisfy them! ;-)