40th Birthday Plan #456

No one ever said adding kids to the mix would be easy but I didn't imagine I'd have to think up, plan, and then reconfigure half a dozen different birthday plans.  Pre-kids my dream of celebrating my milestone 40th was to take a trip to Belize. Obviously, with two kids involved and the pandemic, Belize was not a possibility.  We talked about taking a domestic family trip but realized that didn't exactly work if Evan and I wanted any time alone to have a special dinner.  Then we thought of doing something local but maybe spending one night out.  Well, none of the parents were willing to watch both kids overnight. So then it became about securing a dinner reservation and hiring a babysitter for a few hours.  Within two weeks of both our re-do anniversary dinner and my birthday dinner, our babysitter flaked and we had to beg the parents to help us out.  I had to cancel our dinner plans (the parents prefer to not do nighttime babysitting) and the activity that we were doing alongside the dinner, both in DC.  And let's not forget, the dinner reservations I made were third or fourth choice anyway.  I couldn't even get into my restaurant of choice because they closed on my birthday for a special event AND I could only get on a waitlist for some dates around my birthday.  Oy vey.

Very last minute, about a week out from my actual birthday, I found an option that wasn't easy to plan (poor communication on the part of the vendor) but was ultimately a nice, novel idea - a "luxury picnic" at a vineyard about an hour west of us.  The grandparents split duties - my in-laws picked up Aura from preschool and watched her for the afternoon and my parents came to our house and watched Iris, who was napping for half the time.  

The picnic setup was lovely but it was definitely one of those looks-nice-but-isn't-exactly-functional things.  I tried to set up the pillows to sit on but immediately slid off and looked like a complete idiot, landing on my front on all fours.  It provided a good laugh but obviously, the seating was not optimal.  The vineyard has Adirondack chairs scattered all over the hillside so I'm not sure why no one thought to put that together and combine it with the picnic setup but we did!  Evan pulled over two chairs and we sat comfortably while we snacked on a very bare bones charcuterie box that we ordered from the vineyard.  They indicated that the charcuterie box was enough for 3-4 people but it was barely enough for Evan and me. We arrived starving and so with barely any food in our tummies and a full bottle of sparkling wine (which we also ordered) we got buzzed very quickly.  Fortunately, the buzz helped me to overlook some of these little snafus but the thing that really bugged me and I will never let go is that the picnic planner couldn't be bothered to personalize the chalkboard that said "Happy Birthday".  When I perused the picture gallery on their website they always personalize with "Happy Birthday Sue" or "Happy Engagement Jack and Diane".  They couldn't take an extra two minutes to make me feel special on my milestone birthday and say "Happy Birthday Denise"???  

Anyway, the environment was lovely.  Even though the leaves were past peak there were still some colors left, it was an unseasonably warm day with a breeze, and we had the hilltop to ourselves.  After an hour (we had 90 minutes to use the picnic setup) we moved over to the vineyard seating.  We sat in a swing bench and enjoyed our buzz.  If we did this again, and we might, we'd not even bother with the picnic part and just go to the vineyard and sit in the Adirondack chairs overlooking the valley.  The sparkling wine was so good that we bought two bottles and brought them home.  We'll open one on New Year's Eve.  

When we got back home we reunited with the kids, brought dinner home from a local restaurant and ate on our deck, and then had cake that we preordered from Wegmans.  It was a low-key but ultimately satisfying and lovely birthday.  I loved sharing part of the day with Evan (it's so rare that we get time alone together) and part of the day with my girls.  I also had a nice little picnic and outing with Aura the day after at a local park.  And today we're going to a baby shower for friends of ours that have been trying to have a baby for over a decade.  It's been a good weekend! 

I'm still hoping that we can do something big for our 20th anniversary/45th birthdays to make up for some of these challenges.  Evan and I need to put our heads together and figure out where we want to go.  The girls will be 9 and 6 in five years, more independent and both potty-trained, so our chances of going somewhere cool are much greater.  We should start saving now.   

  

15th Anniversary Dinner Re-Do

Evan and I celebrated a big anniversary this year - 15 years of marriage!  Unfortunately, we had quite a few snafus leading up to our dinner this past Saturday night.  

Under different circumstances we absolutely would've celebrated by taking an extravagant trip, but with the ongoing pandemic and having two kids, it would've been unaffordable and irresponsible.  We came up with the Inn at Little Washington because it seemed both special enough for a big anniversary and doable.  We also booked a kitchen table to elevate our experience.  That meant we would be witness to the action and perhaps experience some extra flourishes.

In the days leading up to our anniversary a plague hit our house.  First Aura, then Iris, then Evan, and very minimally, me. We had to reschedule doctor's appointments, an allergist appointment, a play date with Rodney, some fun stuff, and ultimately, our anniversary dinner.  They weren't going to allow us to reschedule until we invoked Covid (we had two negative tests but you never know right...?). 

Then the babysitter I found through care.com and we consulted with to pick a new date, flaked on us.  Fortunately, the grandmas saved us and we had a successful babysitting experience.

...

I really do love the Inn and while our experience was mostly stellar there were a couple of small misses.  

We were initially seated in a small lounge with some snacks.  The snacks were good but what I didn't like was the lack of communication.  When we were seated in a tea room the woman said something like, this will be your table for the evening.  I think she misspoke but nevertheless, it stuck in my mind and the more time passed the more I worried everyone was under the wrong impression and that we weren't going to be taken to the kitchen table.  We were there for almost 30 minutes before we were led into the kitchen.  Evan thought this brief interlude was purposeful and meant to be relaxing and ease you into the experience.  I feel like I would've enjoyed those 30 minutes far more had someone said something like, please enjoy yourself while we get your dinner table ready.  It would've set my mind at ease.

There was also a weird moment during our meal where the bread guy came by with four different kinds of bread in abundant supply but only gave us each one slice/piece.  We had a huge piece of butter that was reminiscent of a bee hive and it went to waste because we had no bread to spread it on!  

When we entered the kitchen we were welcomed by several staff members, Chef Patrick O'Connell, and one staff member dressed in Catholic robes swinging a censer.  Whatever was in that censer practically knocked me out!  Seriously, I was having a hard time breathing.  The Catholic theme continued with the music - our dinner was accompanied by chanting monks.   

We were seated at one of two tables that were placed on either side of a great big wood-burning fireplace.  We could hear the wood splitting and crackling throughout the dinner.  It definitely added to the ambiance.  I loved our vantage point and the comfort of our cushioned bench seating.  The kitchen was big and beautiful and while there was a lot going on, we couldn't actually see much of the action.  I imagine that's somewhat intentional to preserve their intellectual property.  In the past when we've dined at restaurants and chosen the "chef's counter" we've been able to see everything but this was not that.  We weren't promised a place at the counter so to compare the different experiences would be unfair.

Another nice touch is that they printed out personalized menus for us to bring home.  The only disappointment is that it has the date of our dinner printed on it, not our anniversary.  It would've been inauthentic to have them make new menus since we technically dined there on October 29, 2022 and not October 6, 2022 as we had intended.  Oh well.

All in all it was a lovely experience.  I don't think we have to reserve a kitchen table again (just reserving a kitchen table is a hefty price tag) because the meal itself is enough of an extravagance.  I'm glad we did it on this occasion though because now we know what the fuss is about and it did give our milestone anniversary some extra pizzazz.

An amuse bouche of cheese cannolis and communion wafers, another reference to the Catholic theme.

Popcorn garnished with some truffle cheese and/or salt (?).  It's hard to remember all the details when some of the courses are surprises and not included on the menu.  The popcorn is an allusion to the "dinner and a show" you get in the kitchen. Some of the best popcorn I've ever had.  

This was another cheesy, creamy concoction with mushrooms. 

This was some kind of crudo dish.

Lamb carpaccio a la a deconstructed caesar salad.  Absolutely delicious! 

This was some kind of lobster wrapped in cabbage.  It had kind of a jello-like consistency.  It was very good but probably my least favorite course.  Since Evan has a shellfish allergy he had some kind of mushroom pasta.

Duck with foie gras.  Superb!

Evan got rabbit two ways.  See the bunny ears?  We especially love the touches of whimsy.  I think this was the first time we both tried rabbit.  

I can't remember what this was other than a palate cleanser but I do remember enjoying it.  

This was a surprise dessert especially crafted and presented to us by Chef Patrick O'Connell.  It was a baked Alaska with chocolate ice cream.  Chef O'Connell was personable, kind, and without airs.  We enjoyed meeting him.    

This dessert was not only delectable but we loved the whimsy.  It's meant to look like bar soap (white chocolate) in a soap dish with a sponge (angel food cake).  Even the plate reminds you of a tiled bathroom floor.  So creative and fun!

 

A large floral arrangement in the foyer of the Inn.

It was a beautiful, clear night.  One of the concierges was outside talking to us and he said that's what "rush hour" looks like in Washington, VA.

   

Family Vacation: New River Gorge National Park, WV

Our trip to the New River Gorge National Park was our second and last family vacation of 2022.  It was kind of an impromptu, almost last-minute plan.  We were originally going to take a trip with my parents to the Hudson Valley as a partial celebration of our anniversary, but after finding out that Aura would be missing a week of school during the dates I picked and realizing that we wanted to try managing the kids on our own (like we do day to day), we shifted gears.  I had never even heard of New River Gorge until it was designated a national park in 2021 and now I can't believe it wasn't on our radar before.  It's amazing, beautiful, a relatively short drive away, and there's so much to do!  

I found a charming converted farmhouse in Hico, WV, just ten minutes away from the park, and booked us five nights the week before school starts and days before Iris's first birthday.  We ended up leaving one day early but not because we weren't enjoying ourselves, more so because the kids were missing the comforts of home and we felt that we had accomplished all that we could in the days we were there.  

We went with the best of intentions - brought a hiking backpack for Iris - but we didn't end up doing much hiking.  The park is actually quite large so to be at one part and get to another might take an hour by car.  The driving was tiring (and boring) for the kids and of course, the drives there and back were long, too.  We also had to get back to the house for milk/food and naps for Iris so that put a hamper on spending too much time away from the house.  

It also rained our first day in town so we didn't do much but relax at the house and get settled.  That was also challenging as the house was not equipped with toys and things for Aura to play with.  At some point we went to Walmart and got her play-doh.  There also wasn't a lot of safe space for Iris to crawl and explore so we were mostly holding her or had her in the high chair/play pen.  There was a lovely sun porch that we spent a lot of time in during the day as a family and Evan and I chatted out there after the kids had gone to bed.  There was also a nice sitting area in the back that I wish we could've taken more advantage of but it was kind of buggy out there so we didn't.  

I did see deer almost every day we were at the house.  The first morning I saw a mama deer and her two fawn run across the lawn and then snack on apples.  I suggested to Evan that the airbnb hosts must've snuck onto the property and thrown apples out back to attract the deer for us.  I guess I expect or anticipate more from airbnb hosts than what's realistic because upon further investigation I saw that there was an apple tree on property.  Evan and I had a good laugh about that.  I saw three young bucks one evening and then one giant buck (at least an eight pointer) one night, who got spooked and took off as soon as he spotted me looking at him.    

There were a lot of challenges on this trip trying to balance the needs of both kids and also, get out and do things that we wanted to do and get the whole family on board.  That said, it was important that we did it this way so that we can know definitively that we can do it as a family of four.  I honestly don't think much would've been different or better had other hands been available.  It might've been worse because there wasn't as much space to spread out as I had thought prior to our arrival.  I also don't think we would've had much time to ourselves which would've potentially been the goal had my parents been around, for example.  The only real difference is that we were scurrying around a little bit more, just as we would at home, and we had to clean up the house ourselves on the way out.  

Traveling as a family of four should only get easier as next time we won't need to make formula and we probably won't need as much equipment like the playpen, highchair, etc.  The bigger Iris gets the easier everything else will get.  We did discover, however, that having a potty-trained child doesn't necessarily make things much easier.  On the drive there Aura said on three different occasions that she needed to pee.  The first time we pulled out her old Minnie Mouse potty and I put in a liner on the side of the highway (it was the only place to stop at the time).  She got her pants down and sat but then couldn't go. We kept driving until we found a rest area and then Evan took her into a family bathroom with her special, kid-sized toilet lid. She wouldn't go then either.  Finally, about an hour outside of our destination we pulled off into a parking lot and I put her in a pull-up (a leftover one we had in our hiking/baby bag) and she peed.  Later when we got to the house, with everything set up properly, she had an accident and peed all over the floor.  Nothing like that happened again but it was a good reminder that being potty-trained doesn't necessarily translate to no problems!  

We were able to change Iris's diaper in the car on several occasions but she's in a very wiggly stage so had a fit literally every time we changed her, whether that was on the bed, couch, or passenger seat of the car.  She's even giving us a hard time on her changing table at home.  Oy vey!    

With Aura the thing I felt the worst about is that despite being difficult here and there I do think she would've been game for some of the available activities.  On our best day as a family, when we visited the Sandstone Falls, I know Aura would've loved to have spent a nice chunk of time dipping her feet in the New River, throwing rocks, just goofing off.  Unfortunately, because it was such a long drive to get there, almost immediately after we walked out on the boardwalk to see the falls, we had to then turn around and head back to the car because Iris needed a food pouch and shortly after, a nap.  Again, I do think this stuff will get easier as Iris gets a little older and the kids' needs and wants align a little better.  They both like being together and playing together but with Iris's current feeding and nap needs, they're not on the same schedule yet.

Still, we did have some very nice family moments even in the midst of some challenges.  As I mentioned, we all loved the Sandstone Falls.  It was a drive but it was absolutely worth it.  Iris loved getting out of the car and was kicking up her heels and trying to fly out of our arms.  Mentally she's so ready to walk and run around.  Aura and I also trekked down (and then up) the steps at the Visitor Center for a great viewpoint of the New River Gorge Bridge and then we did it again as a family of four on our last night.  On our last morning we took in one last viewpoint as a family at Hawks Nest State Park.  No one else was there and it was cool and shaded.  Just breathtakingly beautiful and peaceful.  A weird, big flying bug caught a ride with us in the car so Evan pulled off to let it out.  We didn't see it leave but we didn't see it in the car either so resumed our drive. Aura kept saying that the bug was still in the car and that Iris was playing with it but with a little smirk on her face.  Evan and I jokingly said we didn't believe her, we all laughed, and moved on.  About thirty minutes later the bug showed up on Aura's door and we all laughed because Aura had been telling the truth about the bug still being in the car (not about Iris playing with it).  Evan pulled off again and we finally got it out.  

We all ate the most Dunkin Donuts we ever have in our lives - every morning, in fact.  It's a bit of a food desert there and despite trying at least two of the highly recommended restaurants in town - Pies & Pints (pizza and craft beer place) and Cathedral Cafe - we weren't overly impressed.  We even tried out two of their local ice cream places but discovered that no one makes their own - they serve Hershey's!  I imagine that in the ensuing years the tourism industry will pick up and with that, better food options.  They've definitely got all the activities you'd want but the availability of good, clean places to stay and decent food could use some work.  We liked where we stayed but don't think we'd stay there again because it wasn't entirely kid-friendly and the kitchen, barely functional.  We had to wash bottles and the sink not only didn't have a garbage disposal but didn't drain properly.  They even sent a repair-person to unclog it but we realized pretty quickly that it wasn't a clog, but the old plumbing, pipes, etc. that was the problem.  

One of the trip highlights for me, aside from our time together as a family and the time Evan and I spent together on the enclosed porch, was doing the Bridge Walk.  This was meant as a bit of an early 40th birthday present for me and also a personal challenge/facing my fears type of feat.  Evan watched the girls while I did it solo.  It was a nice group, twelve of us including our very sweet guide, Calila.  I'm not really sure what I was thinking as I was low-level freaked out the entire time.  I somehow had the presence of mind to be able to take pictures and even text but I could feel the tension and fear in my body every time traffic went over the bridge and the catwalk and everything surrounding us reverberated, which was pretty much the entire time!  It was a little anticlimactic doing that without anyone there to celebrate with but I'm still glad I did it.  The views couldn't be beat and no one will ever be able to take that accomplishment away from me.  

All of that to say, I'd call this trip a sampling or taste of the area and we're interested in going back for seconds and maybe more.  I could definitely envision the New River Gorge area becoming a repeat vacation spot as it offers so much to do. When the girls are older we'll hike, maybe white water raft, rock climb, etc.  I'd also love to go in the fall.  With SO many trees I'm sure the foliage is spectacular.

On our drive there we took a break in Natural Bridge, VA and stopped at the Virginia Safari Park for a drive-thru feeding. We got two food buckets (one for me and one for Aura) and they were snatched out of our hands within seconds.  I lasted a little longer than Aura but when I resisted one alpaca's (or was it a llama?) overtures s/he promptly snorted green muck at us. It was pretty funny if a bit stinky.  Evan wasn't too pleased!  Then we closed our windows and just enjoyed the drive and observing the animals.

I had intended for us to visit Natural Bridge and even Dinosaur Kingdom II but we ran out of time.  Iris started to get agitated with the slow movement of the car (she was ready to nap).  We also skipped these options on the way back home in an attempt to power through and get home ASAP.  Maybe next time.  

Our first views of the bridge:

The apple eaters in our yard:

The biggest, little town around is Fayetteville. That's where the "good" food is.

Everything leading up to and then doing the Bridge Walk:

The viewpoint from the Visitor Center:

The amazing view from Fayette Station Road:

Sandstone Falls:

The "Grandview"

Morning fog from Hawks Nest State Park:

We were able to stop at Wright's Dairy-Rite in Staunton, VA for lunch on the way home.  We actually tried to go there on the way to New River but they were closed.  These things are never as good as you expect or hope them to be.  We didn't even get milkshakes.  The corn dogs were yummy though!