Plantation Vacation

This last week we took a little trip to see some old friends of ours, the Genhos. They live on a large ranch/farm that sits next to the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, so it is acres and acres of rolling green hills, with bursts of forest here and there. They have goats, chickens, mules, horses, and lots and lots of cattle. (Connor still asks me to "see goats" every day.) It was just what Adam and I needed to relax after the last six months we've been through.


The main house on the property is an old plantation home. I tried to tell Adam how big it was, but he was still amazed when we got there...and I have to admit so was I. It is rumored that Colonel Slaughter still haunts the house and left a treasure somewhere. Unfortunately, we left with no ghost stories or treasure, but with a lot of great memories.


While we were there we got a chance to run up to Washington, D.C. a see a few of the sites. Somehow, despite drizzly weather, we still managed to have a great time. I guess it matters most who you're with.


One of Connor's favorite memories was definitely canning peaches with "Wemmie." I woke up from an afternoon nap to find Connor sitting on Lynnie's counter top, stirring a pot of water and "helping" her can some peaches. He was covered in stickiness, but blissfully happy. Though I thought Adam would never stray from his precious strawberry jam, Lynnie's tasty peach jam made him a believer that there might just be more out there. The fact that there was homemade wheat bread, scones, and biscuits to smother in it didn't hurt too much either.

While we were there, Connor also had his second birthday. I was afraid he might decide he needed cake at every family gathering after that since he had just about had it by that point, with that already being his third birthday party. But luckily so far he only starts saying, "Cake! Cake!" when anyone makes the mistake of saying the word "birthday" aloud. This was our little party.

Lynnie and Ava made some tasty "pupcakes" (Connor's new word). Somehow Connor decided that he needed to bring his mouth to the "pupcake" instead of the other way around. Luckily, he cleans up easy.

We had a great time in Virginia and love the Genhos even more that before, and hopefully we'll get too see them again soon!