Metal Meredith

This past weekend we trekked up to Charlottesville to the Vintage Virginia Apple Festival. I think this is the 3rd year that I have gone and the 4th for Phil and Vivienne. It is on this tiny little farm south of Charlottesville in North Garden, Virginia.

The nice thing about this festival is that it is small. They have local merchants selling organic foods, homemade jams and brooms and pottery, fresh apple cider and all of these lovely vintage apples. I wouldn’t have believed Phil the first time if he hadn’t brought them home, but they are just so good. The smell alone is enough to buy a few dozen.

The kids and I went on a hay ride that I can only describe as “extreme”. Instead of a leisurely roll through fields, we went up the side of a mountain and down into the valley of the orchard. It was crazy, bumpy and a bunch of fun. Henry loved it, as we grabbed the seat right behind the tractor. As Vivienne clung to my right side pretending to be scared, Henry smiled and yelled “Wheeeeeee!!!” as we went down the trails.

Phil and his Dad took a tour of the cidery, we had freshly made donuts (advertised as ”Scrumtrulescent”) and bought a 1/2 bushel of delicious vintage apples. I highly recommend the Albemarle Pippin!

Phil’s lovely friends, Lauren and Justin (or Justice, as Vivienne calls him), allowed us to crash their condo in Kitty Hawk for a handful of days. We are now in day 3 and still not trying to kill each other. Kids are ok, too.

Heading Out!

Farmer’s Market

Cap’n Franks!

Hair Wrapping

Nags Head Fishing Pier

Pedicure!

Phil’s expert movie making skills on display:

Our Atlanta trip was a big success. Since I am too wrapped up in stuff to give a long, fun story, I am just doing bullets of fun:

*Vivienne was so excited about her first plane ride. Well, as excited as Vivienne gets. Ask her about it now, 11 days later and I am sure she will gush.

*We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant. It was pricey. When Vivienne and I went to the bathroom, the staff re-folded our napkins. When Phil told our waitress that it was overkill, she said “It is just one of our quirks”.

*We made our way to the Georgia Aquarium and had a blast seeing all the animals/fish. Vivienne was sadly more focused on what she would buy as her ‘one thing’. (She ended up with a stuffed baby seal in a purple fabric purse - blech).

*I touched a sting ray. It felt like a cooked mushroom. A really big, slimy cooked mushroom. But, I loved it and Vivienne wouldn’t touch it. She told her whole class that I did that to a round of 6 year old “Ewwwww"s.

*It was raining when we entered the aquarium at 10am. It had snowed 2 inches when we came out. In Atlanta. In March. Hooray.

*We ate at The Varsity. My mom lived there for 5 years and I never managed to make it there. Honestly, the hot dogs weren’t all that but the fries were really pretty delicious.

*Our Hampton Inn was super nice. Vivienne had a hot chocolate every evening and sneaked bananas and apples up to the room. No fresh cookies. We were gypped.

*We stumbled upon Cirque Du Soliel, for its last night in Atlanta. Phil bought us tickets because he is a really nice man. I had so much fun and laughed so hard and loud that people sitting ahead of me turned around a few times. They were more than 4 rows up. Whoops.

*On Sunday, I spent spare moments in the hotel room checking flights and school closing for the first snowstorm in 5 years. It snowed 9.5 inches in Richmond and 2 in Atlanta. Super.

*After spending 3 days with my husband and one child, I was forced to spend the next 3 with both kids due to snow. Phil, the really nice man as mentioned above, dug his car out faster than I have ever seen anyone before, and high-tailed his ass to work.

*I would do it all again in a second.