Wine & Music Weekend

Sophie's new music teacher plays guitar in a band!  We decided to go check out The Willys at Reid's Orchard Winery on Saturday night.

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After sampling several wines in the tasting room, we bought some wine and a cheese platter and headed out to the seating area.  Sophie got a free cherry slushie.  And later went back for a blue raspberry one, too.

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What a beautiful view!

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The concord grapes looked so luscious on this vine.

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Got one with the "come on and take it already" face, and one with the "super cheesy pose smile" face.  I love this girl!

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It was all I could do to stop myself from plucking these off and eating them.

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Mr. Serfass (aka music teacher) tuning up for the show

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The set up

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Sophie enjoyed picking weeds and wildflowers in the orchard while waiting for the band to start playing.

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Running through the orchard is a good way to burn off pent up energy!

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Bailey the orchard dog was a hit.  This was a free, pup-friendly event.

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Yummy!!

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After a few songs, the kids who were there with their parents started playing football behind the grape vines.  Sophie joined right in and had a blast!

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After football came soccer.

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And after soccer came tree climbing!  As it grew dark, the crowd really got into the swing of things.  The music was awesome, the lights on the tables and in the trees were festive, and a great time was had by all!!

 

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Lucky us, there are at least 3 wineries within 15 miles.  They all host free concerts and family friendly events.  Loving our new location and memories made with mom and dad :)

 

Bright Sunshiny Day

Our outing to Yellow Hill Farm today could not have been more perfect!  The day dawned sunny and warm, and the 20 minute drive was beautiful.  Though we were not the only people with the idea to go berry picking today, there was plenty of room and crops for everyone!

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When we arrived we saw rows of berries on our right and rows of flowers on our left!

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The colors and sheer beauty of the blooms made me swoon a little.

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There were bees and butterflies EVERYWHERE.  They were in heaven!

 

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Being "first time pickers", the very nice owner explained the process to us and gave us our white buckets.  The thornless blackberry bushes were laden with fruit in all stages of ripeness.

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The buckets come with a strap so that you can pick with both hands!  Or pick with one and eat with the other.

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The raspberries were extra sweet but not as prevalent.  There should be another wave of them ready to pick in a couple of weeks.  We may have to go back!

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After we paid our $10 for over 3 pounds of berries, we headed over to the flowers.  For $7 you can pick as many flowers as you can fit in your big Styrofoam cup.  They give you special clippers to borrow- even child-friendly ones for Sophie.  This was about a third of the flowers we ended up bringing home- you can fit a lot in a cup!!!

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Here is Sophie's vase for her room.

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And the vase for the dining room table.  We also have two little sunflowers in the kitchen and a few cosmos in the downstairs bathroom.

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We stopped on the way home for a delicious brunch at Pomona's Bakery, then topped the day off with a couple of lazy hours spent at the pool.  The best Saturday I've had in ages!!!!!  I hope yours was just as great :)

Wednesday's "Works"

You know what they say- all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! 

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We were able to take a nice break from the unpacking today to attend a Butterfly Tea at a local farm to benefit the Special Olympics.  We had hats and accessories to play with, loads of finger foods to eat, and Sophie was even able to release a live butterfly and take home a handmade butterfly lollipop.  It was great fun, and I believe I will let the photos speak for themselves.  Hope you had a wonderful Wednesday!

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Wednesday's Works

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It's a busy time here at the *soso* world headquarters.  I've finished the base of the Easter basket...

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finished an 18" by 70" cotton runner...

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and started gathering white fabrics for 50 hay bales.  Yep, another fabulous outdoor wedding to outfit!

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The best work for today, though, is entertaining Sophie on her first real snow day in quite awhile.  It is pouring snow outside- a heavy, wet mixture that is keeping totals down, but that is excellent for making snowballs and bricks.  A fun time for this girl in the forest :)

Snowmen

My photos from the school breakfast event turned out pretty bad.  Too blurry to share, unfortunately.  But, I have another treasure to show you- a story written by Sophie yesterday morning.  She woke up before me and her dad and proceeded to entertain herself by writing this in her sketchbook.

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Page 1: The two-balled snowman was very sad because all of the three-balled snowmen were making fun of him for only having two balls. 

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Page 2: The sun came out and all of the three balled snowmen melted.  The two balled snowman didn't melt because he was so compact.  I love the karma here, and the speech/thinking bubbles are awesome.  You can click these to read and see the detail.

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The moral of the story:  Never make fun of anyone who is different. 

I have a sweetheart with a sweet heart :)

Snow Fun

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It snowed a few inches while Sophie was visiting her grandparents!  Her Pa took her out to build a snow fort and snowman, and she loved every minute. 
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Makeover Monday 12/17

 Sophie and I shared a dramatic makeover project this weekend: Shrinky Dinks!  She got these for her birthday; it was her first time doing them, and my first time in about 35 years.  Here they are all colored when we first put them into the oven.

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 We watched for two minutes as they danced and curled and shrunk.  It was pure magic!

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They turned out so teeny and adorable- that's her 7 year old hand in this photo.  We made sure to put the year on each one, and Sophie has already decorated her mini-tree with this first dozen.  If you are in need of a little Christmas magic, I can't recommend this project enough for anyone at any age!

Happy Easter

 We began what may be a new Easter tradition yesterday- Easter cupcake making in lieu of egg dying. 

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 Auntie Gretchen was kind enough to let us take over her kitchen for several hours.  All four cousins worked hard to create masterpieces for Easter dessert. 

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They made their own frosting colors, and got to clean the spoons after it was all said and done.  The cleaning *may* have been the favorite part! 

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Wishing you and yours a cupcake and spoon licking kind of day!

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

 The weather couldn't have been more perfect for the gathering of the "children of the forest" today.  From just-born babies to new teenagers, the kids and their families came in droves to the riverfront for an egg-stravaganza. 

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Egg hunting, egg dyeing, and egg/bead stringing mixed with treat~eating and playground playing to create the perfect afternoon.  All of the photos I took of Sophie "in action" came out super blurry, so you'll just have to take my word for it that other people *were* there.