Today we split up as we headed to Tyler's house in Illinois. Some of us took a drive to Pella, a cute little town in Iowa, which has the most beautiful tulip festival, which of course we missed. However, what we really came for was the Jaarsma Bakery. It is more than worth the 2 hours of extra driving to get some yummy treats from this wonderful Danish bakery.

The place was packed the whole time we were there. They have some many good things to choose from, but I picked up a couple of my favorites. First the letters, they have a yummy almond paste in the middle and are wrapped in a buttery, flaky, dough on the outside.
The second is the almond butter cake. This thing was really heavy, and it is also to die for. I did but it up and freeze it (yes my love of the deep freeze) so we could enjoy it later.
Just in case you are wondering, you can order these items and have them shipped directly to you house. I checked it and the cost wasn't that expensive either. I would have to recommend both of these items as well as anything else you can get your hands on. However a word to the wise if you don't like almonds or almond flavor, you probably won't like their pastries.

After the adventure here, we did go to Tyler's house, it is so cute and shaped like a barn. It was really fun to go look at all the work he had done to both the outside and the inside. I would love a green yard like that and especially since they don't ever water. Well I guess with all the rain they get they don't need to.
We had his graduation party that night. Great job Tyler we are all very proud of you and now you are the master (electrician)!!

One more picture. The little house you see in the back is actually a garage. This house is about 80 years old and they didn't attach garages like they do today, so it was an after thought. We played, eat and had a grand old time while we were there.