♥ Chapter 2: A Valley of Tulips ♥

Continuing our "Olivia's Summer Vacation" blog series, let's read "Chapter 2: A Valley of Tulips!" Remember, I love comments and what you think about a certain chapter. Let me know by comment or email what stood out to you. I excitedly await your feedback!

Read previous posts on my book including introduction and chapter 1.

Introduction to Olivia's Summer Vacation
Chapter 1: Welcome to Farmhouse!

Olivia's Summer Vacation
Chapter 2
A Valley of Tulips

"I'll race you to Tulip Valley!" said Olivia, excited about this race.

"I'm gonna win!" Olivia's cousin, Emily, replied.

"On your mark, get set, go!"

Both girls ran at full speed toward Emily's garden of yellow tulips, what they called "Tulip Valley." Olivia was ahead of Emily about an inch, and soon they came in sight of the long-awaited Tulip Valley. It was a stone's throw away. Suddenly, Emily reached Olivia's speed.

"I used up all my energy to stay ahead of you." Olivia, taking off her straw hat, said, exhausted.

Tired from all that running, Olivia slowed down with Emily passing her. There was no way Olivia could win, seeing Emily so far ahead of her. 

Emily triumphantly crossed the imaginary finish line at Tulip Valley and exclaimed, "I won!"

"Great job, Emily," Olivia encouraged. "You were behind me most of the time, until you sped up and beat me. You're amazing!"

"Aw, Livi, thanks!" said Emily, grateful for the compliments from her cousin. "Let's go smell the flowers!"

Olivia bent down to smell one of the yellow tulips. A sweet scent went to Livi's nose. "Ahhh..."

"Ahhh...choo!" sneezed Olivia. "Whew, that was a close one." 

She had just barely dodged sneezing on all of the flowers. After the abrupt sneeze, Olivia marveled at the beauty of God's creation.

"Thank You, God, for these beautiful flowers that You've created for Your glory! I'm amazed at your creation." She prayed.

"It's awesome!" Emily exclaimed. "Wanna pluck some?"

"Sure, but don't we need scissors?"

"Nope!" joyful Emily replied. "Just pull 'em up!"

The girls went to "work" right away, busily occupying their morning with pulling up flowers. Olivia, who Emily called "Livi," plucked one, and slid it right behind her ear. On the other hand, her cousin, Emily, started picking and pulling apart the petals off of the stem.

"What are you doing, Emily?"

"I'm gonna use the petals to decorate the dining room table."

"That's a great idea," Olivia complimented her. "It'll be beautiful."

After they had a total of 25 flower petals collected in Olivia's straw hat, Olivia and Emily walked towards a nearby lake to meet up with the rest of Olivia's cousins. This time, though, Olivia and Emily didn't race to the lake.

"I see 'em!" Olivia pointed to her nearby cousins. "They've got fishing poles out!"

"Dad's putting worms on the hooks!" Emily gave a disgusted look. "Ewww, that's so gross!"

"I'm gonna stay here a little while to pluck some more flowers," continued Emily.

"Okay, see you later, Emily."

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To be continued, Chapter 3: A Surprise for Everyone