Adventure Off the Farm- Williamsburg , Virginia

A couple of weeks ago, I shared that my friends and I were heading to Williamsburg, Virginia and I wanted to share with my friends here. Our trip was so much fun, but short! I was disappointed that it was over so fast.

The drive was about 12 hours for us, but Williamsburg was so worth the distance! If you haven't ever been there, I highly suggest that you go. history buffs would absolutely be able to spend days in Williamsburg and not be the least bit bored. We didn't go to see Colonial Williamsburg or the museums, but we went to Merchant's Square, which is a part of it and we thoroughly enjoyed the day we spent there.

Our first stop was our resort, which was Parkside Williamsburg. It is one of the resorts that is a part of our Bluegreen ownership and I believe that it was a good choice for us. We were fortunate enough to have a 2 bedroom, 2 bath fully furnished condo and the resort was very nice! The staff was friendly and we felt like they cared about us. We had some issues with our keys and they were quickly fixed. The maintenance man was very helpful and professional.

They have an exercise room, which included some very nice equipment. They also had a very nice game room, which had a pool table, ping pong table, several other games and a life size Connect Four game. I was fascinated by the toddler area as I plan to take my grand doll soon. 

I love that the tree has owls on it as well as flowers. I love the little video game as well. The play area would be a fun spot for her. Being little and on vacation, it is sometimes hard to keep them entertained. There was an outdoor playground as well for them.

The pool area was nice too, but it was not warm enough for a trip to the pool. It was nice to walk there and take these photos I like the design of this as it looks as though it could be a lazy river. The slide was nice but was an enclosed slide. 

The next day we spent at Merchant's Square and thoroughly enjoyed the day. We shopped, ate, had fudge, shopped, visited William and Mary College, enjoyed a nice farmer's market, got to see a Colonial style band, seen several horse and buggies, talked with several " local merchant's" and seen many beautiful tulips. I highly recommend this area to anyone that goes to Colonial Williamsburg.

One of my favorite things at Merchant's Square where the dresses that the ladies were wearing. There were some available for sale, but I resisted buying one. 

How beautiful are those? When my grand doll goes, we will certainly be purchasing one of them for her. I want her to have the Colonial bonnet as well and not the hat pictured here. 

This photo of myself was taken at the College of William and Mary College campus. This tree was the perfect photo opportunity and the campus is amazingly beautiful. It is one of the oldest colleges in the country and Thomas Jefferson once walked this same campus. Walking in the steps of our forefathers is an amazing experience!

I hope that picture is clear enough as is tells a little about the building that we went into on campus. There was a wedding party there and photographers so I am sure a wedding was taking place, someone told us that it was also a day for perspective students to be there. I wanted to shout out to all of them, " Go here, it's beautiful!". 

Well, that is enough for today. I will share more of our adventure tomorrow. Thanks for reading and have a blessed day!

Outta Here

I am thrilled to say that I will be going on a short vacation with my friends tomorrow morning! There are 4 of us going and we are heading to Williamsburg, Virginia. I am not sure that we will make our destination but that is our intended destination. We may decide to do something else before we make it that far.

The history that is there is amazing! There are many historical events that took place near there being that it is near the area where the first pilgrims settled and many Presidents came from that area as well. If we make it there, I am sure that we will visit Jamestown and we will make a short trip over to Virginia Beach. I am not sure of what else we will do, but that gets us a good start. I know we will visit a plantation because one of the girls going loves to do that.

I am just ready to get away from all of the responsibility that abounds here for me. I need to relax and refresh because I am currently not helpful to anyone because I feel so overwhelmed! It is exhausting to take care of elderly in-laws, my grand doll, my husband, work, and keep the house tidy. (You notice, I did not say clean). Plus, the chores of the daily farm life never end either. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was caring for a sick calf that was lying in my floor. It can be overwhelming!!!

I need to update my blog and really start spending some time here as I just noticed that I have not changed my winter background yet. UGH!! Too many tasks on my to do list.! Plus, my Pink Zebra business is challenging right now as I just recently moved up to executive consultant and that means that I have a team under me! I now have 5 recruits that have signed under me and I am working with them. That means that I need to do trainings and other inspirational things to keep them motivated as well.

My husband took our youngest daughter and her family to Branson with us a few weeks ago and it was a lot of fun. We were there in September but it was nice to go back although the weather was cool. The grand doll went and it was a lot of fun with her. We stopped at Meramac Caverns and it was nice. We did not tour the cave, but we will return there. I was sad to see that many things on the exit did not seem to be in operation anymore and I felt that it was such a sad reminder that families do not enjoy the things of the past. A Jesse James wax museum, which I would have enjoyed looked as though it had been closed for some time. I personally, love wax museums, but I don't suppose many families do these days.

The James Brothers statue 

Families don't seem to take long car rides these days and visit some of the out of the way treasures that exist in the world. Route 66 used to be a vacation destination and now it seems as though the interstates and airlines have removed some of the wonderful treasures that existed several years ago. 

Well, I must get busy but for now "So long and I will see you when I return. " 

Where Have I Been? New Calves, Babies and More

Where have I been, you asked? Home but very busy as well as sick and just covered with work. Who knew that I would go from days of wondering what I would do next to being so busy that I can't find time to write a blog post. Goodness!!

I know I have missed my friends here tremendously and I must get back and catch up on what is going on in this crazy land of Blogger. I have so many stories to share with you, but I know I can't write it all today. I will give a few updates and I will hopefully, share some of my news with y'all later.

First of all, our dear friend, Joe, is still alive and thankfully, doing a little better. His spirits are up and down as with anyone that is ill, but he is doing better than the doctor anticipated. He has commented that he is tired, but I don't think that he is ready to give up the fight. I am thankful for his fighting spirit as we will truly miss him when he does pass.

My grand doll is improving with her Blount's Disease and I am anxious to return to the surgeon in July and see what she is saying about her legs. I know the right one has improved a great deal and I am beginning to see a little change in the left one. I also know that she is gaining height as we have gone from a 2T to a 5 in just a few months. She is getting faster when she runs and she is not shifting her weight from her waist when she walks. I am so excited to see us end the journey that this disease has taken us on.

This was while she was hunting her Easter Eggs at our house. You can tell her legs are still a little bowed but not nearly as bad as before. I am so thrilled!! She is a true blessing and although she may be hard to deal with at times, I can't imagine life without her. 

For news here on the farm, our cow had babies a month ago this Sunday and we were lucky that she had twins. They were absolutely beautiful and both were pure black and perfect, we thought. We had a heifer and a bull calf and were sure that the universe finally had something right. I am sad to say that we lost the bull calf two weeks ago. I found him lying on the ground and unable to stand. I quickly got forces in place to pick him up and bring him into the house. Yes, the house. The weather here has been cold, wet and winter for too long. ( Snow yesterday morning). I knew he needed to be warm and possibly see a vet. It was a Sunday so no vet was working and I am sad to say that I found that there are not many large animal vets nearby. What a horrible lesson to learn as you deal with a sick calf. 

After having him in the house with blankets and a heating pad on him, I began to think that he might be improving as he kicked and mooed a few times. As evening turned to wee hours of the morning, I decided that we must get him outside because he was not seeming to improve quickly as I hoped and I needed to go to sleep. Farmer man put him out in a shed that we have with plenty of hay and blankets to keep him warm overnight. Unfortunately, he was not alive the next morning when I checked on him. I was heartbroken as I had cradled him like a baby to try to nurse him to health. I had fed him from an eye dropper when he would not eat or drink. I was so disappointed that I could not do more to help him. 

This is both of the babies . Precious and priceless to see them for the first time. I actually got to watch the heifer take her first steps and I will never forget it. 

Well, I must get my day started. I will write again later if I can and catch you up on more.