a few weeks ago, upon returning our babysitter home, our babysitter's father suggested we accompany them to the tulip parade in Lisse. Jan grew up in the bulb district and his father and other family members were in the flower business for many years. we certainly didn't want to pass up this opportunity to be guided by a local to see one of Holland's most famous events!
the day started by a well executed rental car pick up, so horray for that! and we even got car seats this time, so horray for good parenting! we set off around noon with our guides in the car in front of us. Jan would call us and point out sights to us along the way and pulled over once to show us a very important dike. 
we arrived into the town of Lisse which was inundated with large tour buses. clearly, this was a big deal! people were arranged on the parade route for what seemed like miles. since we had about 90 minutes before the parade started, jan took us into the flower fields and told us about the flower industry - the money you can make on bulbs vs cut flowers, how to tend to the bulb fields, etc. the kids enjoyed running through the never-ending tulip beds. 
we headed back into town for the parade but could not get where Jan wanted to be - it was sooo crowded and walking through the crowd was just not possible. we took a spot in the town square and enjoyed the parade and some beers. we also tore into the bread and cheese we had been carrying around but unable to eat until now. the parade is like the tournament of roses parade - the floats are all made of plant material. david, who was pressed up against the barrier, was about 1 foot from the action, while we stood on a picnic 
table to see what was going on.after the parade we toured a different flower field and then made plans to go back into town for a meal but naomi threw up all over the place so we headed back home.
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