A Blanket of Bluebonnets

A few weekends ago, Rachel, Brodie and I headed south for our third annual trip to the Ennis Bluebonnet Festival (well, last year was Brodie's first time...). With such a mild winter and rainy spring, the wildflowers bloomed EARLY this year, and they were GORGEOUS! I was afraid they wouldn't last until the Bluebonnet Festival, but we were lucky. There weren't as many places to actually get IN the flowers this year, but the fields were amazing, just covered in a blanket of blue with random spots of coral indian paintbrush. I borrowed this first picture from facebook because it really shows the bluebonnet coverage - AMAZING!

When we got to Ennis, we walked around the actual festival in the middle of the old-town sqaure, got our map to the best bluebonnet viewing locations, and headed out driving into the country. Oh my, it was a gorgeous day and we all loved it. We would roll the window down for Brodie and he would stick his head out and relish in the warm sun and the wind. What a funny boy! After driving for a while, gazing at the fields of blue, we made a few stops and took some pictures in front of the flowers - unfortunately they were all behind fences so we couldn't get in them. We enjoyed a picnic lunch in the back of my SUV, since there was no place to sit outside, and then continued on our drive.

Finally, we came across a patch of bluebonnets outside of the fences, big enough to take pictures in, and far enough off the road that we weren't afraid we'd get hit. So we parked and began our photoshoot. Yes, we changed clothes (even Brodie!), yes, we had fun, and no, no bluebonnets were harmed in the making of these photos.

We finished up the day back at the festival, shopping at the craft booths, enjoying the warmth, and snacking on a twister-tater and snowcone. What a fabulous day!