Sky Meadows

Sky Meadows State Park is just down the road from Hollin Farms so after we finished picking peaches we headed there for a picnic and more stunning views of the countryside (and lots of butterflies and cows). The kids loved running in the wide open spaces. We had the entire place to ourselves and just enjoyed a lazy summer afternoon.

There is an old farm house there, the Mount Bleak House, that you can tour. We had never done the tour before but one of the rangers was kind enough to give our huge group of excited kids a tour. It was perfect because she geared the tour toward the kids and made it very interesting for them. She wasn't bothered by their enthusiasm and didn't even panic when they touched something (rare for a house tour around here). We learned all about how a middle-class farm family lived in the 1860s. Oliver was getting a little crazy on the tour so I had to take him out, but the girls loved it.

 Elsa picked a bouquet of wildflowers for me. "Mom, don't see what I'm doing. It's a surprise!"

Oliver enjoying the freshly cut grass.

Not thrilled to find this little guy spying on us.

 

I hung out with these two while the others finished the house tour. Simon immediately rolled onto his face and attempted to eat some grass.

 Descending into the creepy ice house.

picking peaches

We love Hollin Farms and were excited to meet friends there for some peach picking last month. A lot has happened since then (like flying across the country and visiting six different states on a few whirlwind road trips) and it's overwhelming to think about getting caught up on the blog.

But for now I'll just remember this beautiful summer day with friends spent in the most gorgeous Virginia countryside.

The kids saw this open stretch of grass and just made a run for it.

The raspberries were so delicious. I'm pretty sure Oliver ate his weight in berries.

And a few iphone shots:

It's fun to compare photos from our last peach picking excursion seen here. And Hollin Farms is stunning in the fall too (as seen here and here). I love being able to look back on earlier adventures and see how much everyone has grown.