JP's Coffee and Espresso Bar - Holland Michigan

I don't know if the Tulip Time Festival has an official animal mascot ... but they do now. Meet Tulla ... the Tulip Time Squirrel. She jumped up on to one of the retaining walls by a tulip planting and posed for us. She seems to be a bit of a naughty gal, as she was undressing right in front of us (obviously shedding her winter coat in favor of a shorter summer coat). BTW ... this is shot with my Tamron 18-270 VR "all-in-one" lens (not with the Bigma) ... not bad IQ, eh?
Photo by PhotoDocGVSU

Today Marie and I took our first trip to Holland, Michigan for the Annual Tulip Time Festival (largest Tulip festival in the United States, I am told). It's still early ... it's been very cool and dreary in Michigan as of late and most of the tulips are aren't ready yet. However, a select few patches have started to "pop" ... and those early ones are what I concentrated on today.
Photo by PhotoDocGVSU

2011-04-29 0265-1 Outdoor Discovery Center in Holland. If you have the time please view large on black. <a href="http://www.outdoordiscoverycenter.org/odcofwu/site/default.asp" rel="nofollow">Outdoor Discovery Center.</a>
Photo by Kevin Povenz

Rainy April weather keeps downtown feeling a little dreary.

City Flats hotel downtown Holland, MI.

Storm moving in from over Lake Michigan.

Storm clouds and a railroad crossing sign in Holland, Michigan.

Storm clouds roll in over Holland.

Last sunday, it was 84 degrees fahrenheit. It felt like we skipped spring and went right to summer, beautiful! Today, it snowed...
Photo by Bri918