An unexpected outing
This morning we left the house bright and early and headed west to pay a surprise visit to Bruce’s sister and her family. They are doing a little family experiment, working at a friend’s restaurant serving the breakfast crowd.
We arrived and had a lovely meal. The service was wonderful and the food was even better (we wouldn’t expect any less from Bruce’s sister – the hostess with the mostest!) but the BEST part of the trip by far was the look on Abby’s face when she was asked if she would don an apron and help serve the customers!
She brought out warm biscuits and cold orange juice, helped to clear off the tables and waited on tables with Caroline. The smile on her face was one of sheer joy. I have seen that smile on her face one other time recently, when she was holding Baby Sarah for the very first time. It was one of those smiles that said “If I have any more fun, my face might just pop off!”
She “helped” in the kitchen, too, and miraculously did not once end up on the wrong side of the swinging kitchen doors.
We had just planned to go eat breakfast and then come back home but we decided to stay a bit. Christy was headed out to buy some milk and fresh produce at a nearby Amish community that we have been wanting to visit for some time so we hung out and tagged along.
After some lovely conversation with folks at the restaurant, we piled into the van (taking 2 extra kids with us!) and went to their house. Abby stayed with her cousins while Bruce, Sarah, Nathan and I rode with Christy and Daniel. We enjoyed the ride up the “mountain” – a long gravel load that the “plain folk” rarely venture down. We were hoping to get some fresh blueberries but they had all been sold. (Incidentally, that particular farm is run by a family who moved here from New York. The parents both had professional careers there and decided to hang it up, move to the country and live the simple life – no electricity, clothes hanging on the line, huge garden in their front yard and livestock. It was also neat to learn that these folks actually supply a lot of food to a local CSA. It was so neat getting to see it all “in action.”)
We left there and went to the another homestead to get milk and joy of joys, they had an extra half gallon! Bruce and Daniel walked down to the Spring House where is was waiting for us, fresh and cold.
We also bought a watermelon. I know what we’re having with lunch tomorrow!
On the way home, we stopped by to see some friends and ooh’ed and aaaah’ed over their beautiful garden and got to see the new baby chicks.
Sarah enjoyed the ride down the long and winding, shaded gravel road with the windows down and the lively conversation. Nathan worked on eating an apple (and ate it down to the core in the hour or so that we were out and about) while Abby stayed home and played Little House on The Prairie with her cousins.
We left the house this morning expecting to go eat breakfast and come right back home but instead ended up staying out for the afternoon. I’m so excited about the fresh milk and can’t wait to get the yogurt machine cranking tonight but even more than that, I’m so thankful to have things like this to do with the kids. They spent the morning with family, working alongside them and seeing family work in action in various ways. Sure beats sitting around watching movies all day…
Oh wait….. We managed to work that in, too! :lol
Thanks for letting us crash in on your day, Stouffers! We had a lovely time!
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