Strawberry Festival

For the past 8 years or so, since we've been married, we've been at the Credles for Memorial Day weekend to celebrate the beginning of summer with a trip to the beach.  However, this year the beach forecast was high of 64 with 20-25 mph winds. Not exactly what you want for a day at the beach, especially one with toddlers.

Chip had a long week at school with SOL testing, and that combined with the beach forecast, made us switch our Memorial Day plans this year.  So, for the first time in a long time, we found ourselves at home on a 3 day weekend at the start of summer. Only it didn't feel like the start of summer- it felt more like the start of fall.

Lindsay mentioned that her family was going to Delplane for a strawberry festival on Saturday. When I found out we were going to be home, I called her to get more information, and we decided to meet there.

Delaplane is west of Gainesville, on the way to Front Royal. So, like Front Royal, I expected the temperatures to be a little cooler than what they are in Gainesville. A little colder. What I didn't expect was winter.

When we arrived at Big Meadows State Park in Delaplane around 10:30 am on Saturday, the temperature from the van said 53 degrees. 53 degrees on May 24th!  A little chillier than I was hoping, but nothing we weren't prepared for with our layers.

 

Then we got out of the car.  Think again.

Add winds to 53 degrees and it was cold.

Once we got moving, it was still cold. But, we had fun anyway.  I did call Lindsay to warn her to dress warmly and bring extra layers, including hats and mittens!

Our first stop was the hay maze.
A huge hit for both.
They went through like 20 times before I finally convinced them to take
a break and go on a hayride, assuring them we'd return when
Caleb & Hadley arrived.

 

 

....just one more time...

Have I mentioned how much I love the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley?

I think our last family photo was in October on a hay ride!

One of the things I loved about this festival was that there were so
many activities for preschoolers- though we bended the rules a bit
(3 feet distance for a 3 year old to throw seems like a good rule of thumb to me- ok 2 feet).

Daniel really liked this game.

Daddy did, too.
Imagine that.

Ok, so the distance was a little more than a foot.
3 year olds have short arms.
Daniel was quite good at this game. :)

I read an article recently stressing the importance of Mommy and Daddys getting
IN the pictures and not just taking them. I'm working on it.

 

 

Another fun game.
See where Daniel is standing-  he tossed 2 of the 3 balls right into the bucket.
Do you think that made his Daddy proud, or what?

Choosing his prize.

Belle's turn

Look, a sticky hand!
Huge hit.
Still playing with it.

Next stop: Cupcake Walk

We walked....

and walked...

....but our numbers were never picked.

That's okay, though.

One last try....no cupcake.
Time for lunch anyway. 

 

On our way to find the food stands, we passed the strawberry tent.
Are those the prettiest strawberries you've ever seen, or what?

Lindsay and her family arrived while we were having lunch on the lawn.
She brought us some provisions- a hat for Belle and a jacket for Cliff.
Thanks, Lindz.
Although it was beginning to warm up some- the wind died down which made a huge difference.

Sweet Hadley was warm and cozy.

Daniel enjoyed showing Hadley his mittens.

We saw the sack race, but thought our guys were a little young.
But, then, once the race was finished, and we were in line for the hayride,
Lindsay suggested we borrow the sacks and have one of our own.
Good idea- they enjoyed it.

Hadley had fun on the hayride playing with her NaNa.

I love this picture.

Back to the maze.
Caleb was harder to photograph than my guys- he went flying though that thing!

Following the hay maze, D and A were showing signs of crankiness. We'd had a pretty full day and they were in need of naps. (It doesn't help that they think morning wake-up is 6am these days!).

Daniel asked about popcorn (kettle corn- he has a keen sense of smell for it- like his Mommy) when we arrived, so we had to get some of that on our way out.

Enjoying his kettle corn....
And thanks to that kettle corn, and Mommy's funny faces game,
we managed to stay awake until we arrived home for naps.
Fun day- thanks, Lindsay, for inviting us to go!
I sure love a good festival!
(even spring ones- wait, or was it the start of fall?)
And....now it's 90+, I'll take the 55 back, please.
Just keep the winds.