Bug,  out out out of the house!

Ranunculus Fields 2012

orange (my fave)

Bug and I visited the Carlsbad Ranunculus Fields a couple of weeks ago. It’s funny because there is nothing new to see at the fields from year to year. They pretty much look the same but I feel compelled to shell out the eleven dollars anyway because I love them so much. It’s tradition!

tractor man

The tractor ride with the recorded voices,

mixed

The rows and rows in multicolors,

purple

Purple…

orange

Orange…

her favorite

Every year we discuss which color is our favorite. This year we decided it was red.

red forever

Pretty pretty red.

a sea of ranunculus

With orange at a close second.

picture walk way

This year they have little walkways into the flowers so you can take photos that look like you are in the thick of the flowers even though you really aren’t. As usual you are not allowed to pick any which is so frustrating but understandable of course.

gold

I would be deliriously happy if they let you pick your own flowers. Can you imagine? I would come home with armloads!

pink

walkin' with the tourists from Japan

But one thing I thought about as we traveled over the old familiar grounds was how these flowers are appreciated the world over. There were so many tourists from Japan. It gave me a new appreciation of this amazing many petaled flower. How nice is it that I only have to drive an hour and a half to see such a wonder while others fly half way around the world!

sweet pea maze

Another thing different about this year was the sweet pea maze. Not how difficult it was. No, that was pretty much the same.

Sweetpea maze!

Bug beat me.

What changed was how Bug wasted me getting through it this time. It seems like yesterday we couldn’t even go in because she was afraid of it.

yum!

We also had strawberry shortcake this time which we’ve never had there before. It was delicious. Such sweet sweet berries! They were totally worth the five bucks we paid for them.

Untitled

Until next year pretty flower fields!

pretty

Mwa!

17 Comments

  • Deanna

    They grow tulips up north of us a ways, and it seems the same thing year after year. Too many people, too much traffic. But the beauty is so worthwhile.

  • Kuky

    They are beautiful. And it’s so weird seeing Bug so big compared to the older pictures. Sometimes I look at Isabelle and it’s that same strange feeling. Today the kids were having a back and forth about an old picture of her. Nathan said it was a picture of him. Isabelle came back with, no it’s me, that’s my face not yours.

  • Kandi

    That place is gorgeous! I didn’t even know what a ranunculus was until I got married earlier this year. I ended up with red ranunculus as part of my bouquet. They are beautiful! Enormous fields of them are even more spectacular!

  • ememby

    Those flowers are one of my favorites – so beautiful and detailed and yet still simple (does that even make sense?). So fun!

  • Katie

    Oh my goodness, SO BEAUTIFUL!!! I studied floral design in college (didn’t do nothing with it after) but fields of flowers just totally take my breathe away. Wow : )

  • Elizabeth

    I miss this so much from So Cal. I remember going all by myself on a Sunday afternoon when I lived there and eating an entire strawberry shortcake. Loveliest day.

  • Melissa

    Ohhhh you just made me homesick. I grew up in Carlsbad and remember when admission was free! Mom took us in our Easter dresses with our Care Bears to get our pictures taken there. And there in the background is the power plant… and Costco… and the beach right over that hill… and June Gloom… oh man, now I’m really missing California!

  • BeachMama

    I LOVE that you visit every year!! We don’t have those kinds of fields here, just the tulips :) and just like you we pay our (more than) $11 to go to the sugar bush and see the tapped trees and boiling of the sap. It is the same every year and we take it for granted (especially this year with the almost non-existent season thanks to warm weather) but we go since it is a tradition. Don’t stop, we love to see the Ranunculus :)

  • Hil

    This looks so heavenly! I definitely want to put that place on my bucket list! I am still trying to decide which color is my favorite. How lucky you and Bug are! I’ve added you guys to my bookmarks, so I will be back again. I have two little girls of my own, and I draw a lot of inspiration from you!

  • Stephanie

    *sigh* All the beautiful flowers just make me want to cry! I live in London and lately all we’ve had is rain and grey clouds and rain and rain and grey clouds and (you guessed it!) a bit more rain! I’m about to reach breaking point – I need some sun and some colour! Thanks for sharing and putting some colour into my currently very grey landscape!

  • Bethany

    I was in Carlsbad a few weeks ago too! Didn’t the sweet peas smell so sweetly delicious?! And the sweet pea is my birth flower (April).