Speaking of wine...

Thursday night we headed up to Wintergreen for a nice and relaxing long weekend. I'm about to enter into busy season, so it was one last hurrah before things get crazy for me.

Friday we headed down the mountain to do some grocery shopping and on our way back up we stopped by the King Family Winery to see what was new there and to take in the scenery. Adam had a ball playing in the grass and showing off all of his awesome walking skills.

After that we headed to this adorable country store where we picked up some yummy sandwiches and several types of cheese and a fresh baguette for a picnic. We then took our picnic to the Wintergreen Winery where we enjoyed the great breeze and even more time for Adam to "run around" in the grass.

It was great to be able to finally spend some time outside and it's amazing how much our little guy has grown up! He is so independent now and just wants to go off on his own and play with the leaves and every now and again we'll get lucky and he'll decide to run back into one of our arms, at least for a second, and then off he goes again! :)

Splashers...

Last weekend, Andy and I worked as "splashers" for Wintergreen Winery at the Virginia Wine Festival. They call you "splashers" because that's all you are supposed to pour in the tasting glasses--a splash.



Andy was skeptical at first, but he ended up having a good time hanging out with the owner of the winery, Jeff, and hearing all the gossip about the different wineries. He was also a very good wine opener and packaged up everyone's orders.




Meanwhile, I spent my day pouring wine and going over the tasting notes for probably over 300+ guests. It was a little hard at first, especially since we didn't get to taste the wine ahead of time, but I've had enough Wintergreen wine in the past that I was able to wing it and really got into a groove.

It was a little odd being at a wine festival and not actually enjoying any wine, but it was fun to see the behind the scenes of the festival and in the end, Andy and I each got paid $80 in wine from the winery, so in the end, we got our wine! :)

Golfin'

On Saturday, Andy, my dad and I got to play golf at Lansdowne. It was a gorgeous day for golf and we all had pretty stellar rounds (which always makes for a fun day on the course!)

It was fun getting to play a new course and I think one of the highlights (at least for Andy and me) were the HUGE planes landing right over our heads. We see the big planes when we play at Hidden Creek, but they aren't nearly as low to the ground.



It was a great day on the links!

September birthday club...

This weekend we had our annual "September Birthday Club" celebration at my parent's house. This was to celebrate my mom, Adam, Lee, Andrew, and yours truly, as we all have September birthdays! :)



My dad cooked up a great meal for us with stuffed mushrooms and shrimp cocktail for appetizers and then a really yummy lasagna for dinner. We also had cake and ice cream to top it all off!

We all got spoiled with lots of great gifts, and Adam got to practice his gift opening skills yet again--he is of course in training for the "big one" and by that I mean Christmas! Ha! :)









Thanks to everyone for a great birthday celebration and happy birthday to Mom, Adam, Lee, Andrew and ME! :)

New toys...

Adam is loving all of his new toys, almost as much as I am loving having new things to entertain him with!

Uncle Mark got him this great baby grand piano that Adam has been pretty mesmerized with. We did have to move it to the basement though as he started to think of it as yet another "push toy" that he could walk around on the hardwoods with! Yikes! But, now he can stand on the carpet and bang away--he's already 10 times the piano player that I was! :)

Aunt Kathleen's play tunnel has also been a big hit! We set it up for a little while in the kitchen on Monday and he had a blast crawling through and playing with his other toys in the tent portion. Even Daddy was chasing him through the tunnels. The best part is it folds down into a nice little carrying case, so we can easily bring that with us when we travel.

Grandma and Grandpa got him a little school bus that also has some counting and learning colors and such aspects to it. He has enjoyed pushing that around the island and hopefully soon it will help him learn his numbers and colors!



Ommy and Poppy gave him a little play cell phone which has been the most entertaining thing to watch him play with. He is so cute how he'll actually have little conversations into the phone and when we pick it up to "answer it" he gets all excited and crawls over to us so he can say "hello" to whomever is on the other line...sometimes it's Ommy, sometimes it's Liddy, sometimes it's his girlfriend, Ava, etc. etc. Regardless, his face lights up and he starts talking a mile a minute into the phone....should I be worried?? Perhaps it's time we start saving those rollover minutes!! ;)

My birthday...

I suppose I would be remiss if I didn't write about the great birthday that I had on Friday (in addition to celebrating Adam's of course!)

It actually started on Thursday when my co-workers surprised me with a decorated office, a spa gift card and Starbuck's gift card and a yummy cake! It was so thoughtful and made for a fun day at work.

Andy and I took Friday off and Adam even slept in until 7:15, which made for a great start to the day! We then headed to Starbucks for our first pumpkin scones of the season and then dropped Adam off at school for a few hours so we could do some shopping and go out for lunch--sushi yum!

Then I got to hang with Adam in the afternoon (after spending a few hours on his cake that is) and was treated to some great new perfume from my boys!

After Adam went to bed I got to enjoy a four course wine pairing dinner that Andy prepared. It started with a warm goat cheese with apricot preserves on top served along side a citrusy (is that a word?) proseco, then a mushroom soup served with a Virginia oaky chardonnay, then we had a prime rib with blue cheese mashed potatoes and broccoli casserole with an amazing cabernet, and to top it all off we had chocolate covered strawberries, bananas and marshmallows served with a Virginia chocolate and red wine. Phew! It sounds like a lot (and it was!) but it was also served over about a 4 hour time period. A great evening! (though I only snapped one photo!)



Thanks Andy and Adam for a great birthday! :)

Adam's 1st Birthday Party

In addition to our small celebration on Friday we also gathered our family together on Saturday to honor our little guy and also as a way for us to say "thanks" to everyone who helped us out so much in this first year.





We had a little BBQ and mostly just enjoyed watching all the kids chase after one another (well, except for Olivia who was much happier watching).




Adam had been napping when everyone showed up so when we brought the birthday boy down he was a little confused as to how all of a sudden all of his favorite people were in the same room together! It didn't take him long to relax and start showing off big smiles and a few of his tricks.












As if the sugar rush on Friday wasn't enough, he also got to enjoy a "smash" cake in front of the crowd. He did a great job and I think just like his mom he really does have a sweet tooth!






After a quick bath we gathered everyone together to open presents. Adam was so lucky to get so many great clothes and toys and has already been exploring them all.



It was a great party and while Adam might not remember it, we will certainly never forget how fortunate we are to have such amazing family and friends that love our little Adam.