Weekend Getaway Part 1: The Inn

To celebrate our 7th anniversary which was earlier this month, we enjoyed a fabulous getaway this past weekend. Our amazing friends the Dyckmans watched our girls all weekend so we could enjoy a few days of total relaxation. We stayed at the The Inn at Meander Plantation near Charlottesville, Virginia, which was incredible. We love exploring the Virginia countryside. We spent a lot of time wandering around the property and enjoying the views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. And eating amazing food.


(Thomas Jefferson was a frequent visitor here!)

The entrance to the property:




We stayed in a private little cottage that was off the back of the main house:




Our cottage had a private patio and garden with a little fish pond. We enjoyed watching the stars out there at night (except when I locked us out) and ate lunch out there one afternoon:


There was a horse stable near our cottage:




We loved sitting out here and watching the sunset:




and the fireflies:

(See those little yellow dots back by the shrubs? Fireflies. There were SO many. It was amazing at night.)



Although the grass was equally nice:


We seemed to be the only people around which was really nice.

The view of the Inn at night:


Things spotted on a morning walk around the plantation:








(A small vineyard)

There was a river at the edge of the property:


And out in the middle of a corn field, completely hidden by a grove of trees, was the old family cemetery. I love old cemeteries.







Ben poking a stick at a huge black snake:

Preschool Graduation

Amelia had her preschool graduation ceremony on Monday. And what a ceremony it was. I threw on a skirt at the last minute and was glad I did because all of the parents (and extended family members) were all dressed up. There were people carrying around flower bouquets for their graduates. Flowers! It felt like high school graduation.

The whole gym was set up like a formal graduation and they had the preschoolers file in. They sang a few songs and then had the kids come up one by one to receive their diplomas (there were 4 classes so this was not a quick process). They had asked the kids in advance what they wanted to be when they grew up so as they announced their names they also announced this. There were lots of veterinarians and firefighters and teachers. Amelia was the only future rock star in the group. (See video below.)

They showed a DVD they had made with photos of all the kids and gave a copy to the parents. (And you better believe it included Green Day's "Time of your Life.")

As is customary, the program went on a little too long and the kids started going a little crazy. Since we didn't bring flowers and gifts for Amelia, we took her out for ice cream that night.





The set-up:




Elsa wonders if she's allowed to take some cake:


Amelia post-cake:






A brief video of Amelia accepting her diploma and a snippet of one of the songs:



Later that day, Amelia was really quiet and was staring out the dining room window. This was our conversation:
Amelia: Mom, do you know why I'm staring out this window?
Me: Why?
Amelia: I'm sad that I'll never see my school friends and teachers again. (Tears starting to form...)
Me: You'll get to make new friends in kindergarten.
Amelia: I have a song to sing about preschool.
Me: Okay.
Amelia starts singing "Goodbye preschool..." and then bursts into tears.

But about 15 minutes later she was happily playing kindergarten with Elsa. (Amelia was the teacher and Elsa was the reluctant student.)

Teacher Gift

As part of a gift to my daughter's preschool teachers, we made these personalized soap labels. They were very easy and fast. The original idea I saw used a silhouette of the child and had their name on it. Instead, I had my daughter draw pictures. I printed the labels, had her draw something on each one, and then had it photocopied onto transparency paper. We cut them out and slipped them inside the soap bottles. The transparency paper just kind of sticks to the inside. I suppose you could also make clear labels to stick on the outside, but the transparency photocopy only cost $1. We did soap and hand sanitizer.



You can find a free template and instructions for this project here.

A winter flashback via the Diana.

One of the problems with film cameras is my inability to promptly develop the film. I finally got around to developing a few rolls of film from the Diana Mini that were taken in February and March. It's hard to remember all that snow now that it's unbearably hot. (And even more so for Ben who has been suffering in the 112 degree heat of Las Vegas all week for a work conference...and on a side note, he passed a difficult exam there to earn another certification...I can't remember the exact letters he can put behind his name now, but it's a big deal in his industry.)













Paper Moon Diner in Baltimore:


Creepy image from the Congressional Cemetery:


Photos taken by Amelia:

Death at Fort Washington

Memorial Day was hot. Really hot. Luckily, we started the day off nice and early by cooking up a delicious breakfast at Fort Washington. It turns out that Fort Washington is only about 15 minutes from our house and we had never been there. The location is beautiful and the ruins of the fort are really neat. Plus, we were the ONLY people exploring the fort that morning. I love that we can still find new places to visit so close to our house.











We hadn't even made it to the main part of the fort and it happened...my camera died. My favorite little Canon PowerShot point and shoot. It just gave up and died. (Amelia says it's because I use it too much.) Even though I have the new DSLR, I still take my Canon everywhere, especially to places that I would rather not lug around a bigger camera. I will definitely be going back to Fort Washington soon with my nice camera though because there were some great photo opportunities that I missed.

We spent the afternoon cooling off in the backyard. We even bought a bigger pool so Ben and I could cool off as well.














A little water ballet.

Strawberries? Strawberries!

Last Saturday we spent the afternoon at Homestead Farm in Maryland for some good old-fashioned strawberry pickin'. It was a hot and humid afternoon, but very worth it. Those fresh strawberries were so delicious and so much better than the grocery store variety. We took a wagon ride out to the strawberry fields. Elsa would have been happy to stay on the wagon all day. She didn't care about picking strawberries, and didn't even want to eat any (and strawberries are her favorite food). Once we got back on the wagon, Ben put the box of strawberries on Elsa's lap and she finally tried one. And then another, and another...she quickly figured out what she had been missing. Amelia was really into picking berries and would only pick berries that were perfect. Good quality control.

We ended up picking over 10 pounds of strawberries! Click here to find out what we did with them all. They went much faster than I thought.

Strawberries!!

Last Saturday we went to Homestead Farm in Maryland for some strawberry picking. The strawberries were SO delicious and we unintentionally picked over 10 pounds. It turns out that our family has no problem using up 10 pounds of strawberries in a few days.

First up, 24 jars of delicious strawberry jam:



We needed something yummy to try it out on, so I made my favorite biscuits:



Then it was time for strawberry desserts. This was my first attempt at making a tart. I don't know why it took me so long to get a tart pan:



My friend Sarah introduced me to this delicious and quite easy strawberry tart recipe. I used an 11 inch tart pan and the recipe called for a 9 inch, but I think it turned out okay.

Strawberry Tart

Crust:1 1/4 cups flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 to 2 lbs strawberries, hulled and halved
1/4 cup red currant jelly

Crust: Preheat oven to 350*. In a food processor, blend flour, butter, sugar, and salt until moist crumbs form. Transfer dough to a 9” round tart pan with a removable bottom. With floured fingers, press dough evenly into pan and up sides. Dip a dry-measuring cup in flour, and use it to press dough firmly into bottom and against sides of pan. Freeze crust until firm, 10-15 minutes. Using a fork, prick crust all over. Bake until golden, 20-25 min, pressing down gently once or twice with a spoon during baking if crust puffs up. Cool completely in pan. (Note: The crust really hardens up after cooling, so be sure to not overbake. It will get really hard. It tastes like a shortbread cookie crust.)

Filling: In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth; spread mixture evenly in bottom of baked crust (still in tart pan). Starting from outside edge, arrange strawberry halves, stemmed side down, in tight concentric circles on cream cheese (alternate cut strawberry side with each circle). In a small saucepan, heat jelly on med-low until liquefied. Gently brush strawberries with jelly; let set at least 20 minutes. Chill in pan at least 1 hour (and up to 6 hours); remove from pan just before serving.


And finally, Strawberry Brown Butter Bars. YUM! The recipe was originally made with cherries, but strawberries were so delicious. You can find the recipe here.