Tiptoe through the Tulips

Hello everyone. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY (21) to Brien! The tulips came late to Thanksgiving Point this year. Now that the Festival ended last Saturday this week is the best time to see them. I think they will be at their peak this weekend assuming the snow and cold don't kill them tonight or tomorrow. I took someone through today who was absolutely beside himself at every turn. I felt the same way and this is my 5th year of seeing them. Penelope, you should come back and see them; it would be worth the trip. Mom and Dad, it's not too late.

Two weeks ago Lyn and Hugh Mortenson came over from Grand Junction for the Tulip Festival and Lyn did storytelling with silly hats in the Secret Garden and then autographed and sold her children's books in the Visitors Center. It was really fun to see them. Debra and I had dinner with them at Harvest and had a wonderful visit catching up on families, etc. Then Peggy and Shelby went back with us on Saturday and attended her storytelling and visited some more.

Debra and I get to go on a whirlwind tour of children's museums next week. We leave Monday morning and fly to Boston, then Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and St. Louis to see some of the best children's museums in the country. It's our last look at what others are doing before we finalize our plans for Thanksgiving Point's new Museum of Natural Curiosity.

Debra and I went to Wilmington, North Carolina three weeks ago with our friends, Leonard and Cheri Reynolds. We had a great time relaxing and eating lots of sea food. We ate buckets (literally) of oysters, shrimp, crab cakes, clams, scallops - mostly accompanied by hush puppies or conch fritters. Very, very tasty. We spent a lot of time going to various video stores to find and rent the original "Cape Fear" with Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and Polly Bergen. We were at Cape Fear so it seemed like the right thing to do. Some of us enjoyed it and some of us enjoyed making fun of the melodramatic acting... and some plain old bad acting. We also went to the Airlie Gardens and saw the Bottle Chapel - very cool; something I thought Dad should add to his collection of yard art. (I tried to post a picture but it didn't seem to work - I guess you'll have to google it on your own.) There was supposed to be an Azalea Festival, but they had had an early spring so there were very few azalea's to be seen. It's challenging to time things when weather and climate are involved.

This weekend Brien heads to Jacob Lake Inn, near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, to work for a couple of months. He's going with a couple of his returned missionary high school buddies. We hope he has a great experience. It will be good for him to be away from home and gain some independence.

We love you all and look forward to regular updates from each one of you. Love,

Mike