Strawberries in Delaware and Wine in Delaplane

Our whole family had a very sweet weekend visit to DE in the middle of May for the Fifer Strawberry Festival and to see Too-Mom plus Tom and Viv. Then Steve and I had a very sweet 2-night trip in the middle of June to celerate our 16th wedding anniversary at an adorable bed and breakfast in the middle of Virginia wine country. (Ok, technically we didn't visit Delaplane, but rather Loudon county... close enough! I couldn't resist the title!)

Back in May, we drove up on a Saturday morning and headed straight to the festival for several hours of fun- yummy food, activities for the kids, and strawberry picking. Then Tom and Viv were so kind and gracious to have us all over to their place for a pizza dinner and lots of rides on "The Gator," which they all loved! One of our favorite trips to make as a family is to DE to see some of our favorite people and visit Fifer Farms, one of our favorite places. We are looking forward to our visit next month for the Fall Festival! 

 

Lots more pictures from DE

HERE!

Then only a couple weeks away from our anniversary, we decided to see if any sort of getaway might be possible and thanks to my folks and some dear friends watching the kids, we made it work! Only about an hour away in some beautiful wine country hills of VA, we enjoyed delicious meals, wonderful wine, incredible views, and the best company. 

More pictures from our anniversary trip

HERE!

We are so grateful for our time away and the people that made it possible!

Maelee's 9th Birthday!

Ok, by the time this is posted, she'll be almost 9 1/2, but like I *always* tell myself with this blog, better late than never!!!

We feel like Maelee really has transitioned this year to basically "tween" from "big kid." She is growing up so fast and in a lot of ways, it is such a fun phase. She definitely still challenges us with various quirks and particular demands, but also continues to blossom and mature into such a fun, thoughtful, creative, shining young lady! 

Her ninth birthday festivities spanned several weeks as her actual birthday fell in between spring break and Easter then our church retreat, so she was able to really stretch the celebrating. Both my mom and I were able to have special dates with her before her birthday, then we marked it during our visit to NC with a surprise ice cream treat when out to dinner, her actual birthday was filled with LOTS of fun, and she had a party a couple weeks later! 

 A trip to the American Girl store with Nana for their birthday date!

These two laugh A LOT together!

Shopping trip and Five Guys date.

Goodness, I treasure these one on one times with my big girl!

The morning of her birthday, I took her out with two of her closest friends from church to brunch in Del Ray and they had a blast afterward creating a little "film" about traveling! They were all so cute together!

My parents were able to come over later that evening to finish off the day.  Like usual, she was pretty giddy over all her gifts, but she was especially excited to get the first Harry Potter book, an amazing microphone from Nana & Pop-Pop, and her very own mp3 player from us. We had fun with that one, wrapping the tiny present in box after bigger box after bigger box...

It may have taken a while to get the little gift out, but it was worth it once she did!

 

 

It was a pretty great day.

Since there was no school on her actual birthday, I surprised her at lunch and for donut treats the day after.



More birthday photos
HERE!

Then she finished off the weeks long celebrating with a bang! Several of Maelee's closest friends from school came over after the school carnival for a hot dog dinner, a JoJo Siwa bow cake, and popcorn with The Greatest Showman. Plus an epic sing-a-long. It was a fun (and exhausting!) night.

After dinner, cake, gifts, and LOTS of singing, it was time to wind down with a movie.

It was a sweet little party.

More birthday party pics

HERE!

Finishing up with Maelee's 9 year photo shoot! These definitely showcase her personality and interests. Soaking up these last several months before she enters double digits!!!