Visiting Maymont Park http://www.maymont.org/  this morning was so much fun.  Analiese got to feed the goats and see a red fox, a bear, large birds of prey (vultures, owls, bald eagles, etc.) and walk through a Japanese garden.  The whole park is over 100 acres and at one time belonged to a family.  They had no children so left it to the city of Richmond. Eventually a foundation took over.  It is an absolutely beautiful oasis in the middle of the city.  We only spent two hours and didn’t even see a quarter of it.  It will definitely be a place to go back to.  IF you ever get to Richmond, be sure and visit.  It is ranked #2 of places to visit in Richmond.

We visited the Berkeley Plantation, Virginia’s most historic Plantation. You can check it out here.  http://http://www.berkeleyplantation.com/index.html
 It was a chilly, windy day, but we enjoyed the tour of the house and grounds very much.  It is on the James River, and is absolutely beautiful.  After our visit we had lunch at a roadside truck that specialized in southern barbecue.  We were starving and it was delicious!  Then we came home and after a bit of relaxation, which included a cup of coffee for the adults, Megan and I went to the neighborhood park, because Analiese decided we needed more exercise.  Thank goodness, the weather got warmer and by the time we arrived back at the house it was a balmy 77 degrees instead of 64!

  “Her smile beams like sunshine, which fills our hearts with love.” – Unknown

“A toddling little girl is a centre of common feeling which makes the most dissimilar people understand each other.” – George Eliot

  Giggles, grins and silliness……………that’s Analiese!  She loves playing  with her bubbles and squealing at bugs and spiders.  (Those she does NOT like!).  She is learning about trains and other forms of transportation  at her Daycare (Child Development Center, CDC) and decided to make a bus one day with her little chairs. She loves the book, “Wheels on a Bus.” She spent most of the time getting her babies in the right chairs and getting their diaper bags and bottles all ready to go though. And then she had to take their picture with her “camera”.  (That sounds like real life doesn’t it?).  Two year old girls……….what’s not to love???!!!!

Analiese loves her doll babies and plays with them non-stop.   She is a wonderful little mommy for being two and a half years old.  I see lots of real babies in her future when she is married!    But….until then, here is Analiese “practicing” on her dolly baby while her Momma takes care of Willem. 

  A special treat when we visit Christof, Megan, Analiese and now Willem is to go to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday and get donuts…Mrs. Yoder’s donuts!  They are a homemade delicacy made by the Yoder family.  We paired the donuts with some Blanchard coffee and had a little taste of heaven!  It doesn’t get much better than yeast donuts with local coffee!  YUM!

   Analiese loves to “help” cook.  I made chicken pot pie one evening and she kept busy “cutting”  the shortening into the flour for the biscuit topping.  I barely helped her, and I was quite impressed with how well she did.  Then she rolled out the dough and using a glass tumbler she cut the biscuits into the right shapes.  She then lifted the biscuits and laid them on the pie.    She was quite impressed when it was all said and done.  I think she ate more “raw” dough though then the actual baked product.    The next morning she helped her Papa scramble eggs for breakfast.

  There is nothing like “helping” Paca with his work.  Especially when it comes to working in dirt.  We all know how great it is to dig in the dirt, especially if you have a green thumb, or a brown thumb!  Playing, I mean working in the dirt is always fun if you have a shovel, pail and a Paca to dig with.  So, while Paca is working on the shed, Analiese gets to help. 

Going for a walk in Richmond is a treat for the senses.  Everywhere is green and splashes of flower color.  It is beautiful and “alive”.  Every place has a beauty of its own, and Virginia is no exception.  Wandering around the neighborhood brings back early memories of my childhood.  The actual places are not really similar….small town Kansas (my early childhood),  huge city Richmond,  but the neighborhoods have some similarities, the train whistle several times a day and night. large trees, green grass, flowers, old houses and PORCHES!!!   What is it about porches?  Somehow between the midwest and the southwest, they got discarded, thrown away, non-existent.  What a tragedy!  Talking to Megan about this, we decided (inconsclusively of course) that maybe they got discarded because in the southwest and the west…………….people lived so far away from each other initially, that they weren’t needed for socializing.  Instead the backyard and deck in the back yard became more useful.  Up went fences (who wants marauding cattle, coyotes and sandstorms raging through your yard?)  To say I’m “in love” with porches is to put it mildly.  In my mansion in heaven, I have already put in my request…..”a large wrap-around porch” please,   trailing flowers a nice bonus!

      Time to post some pictures of our visit with Christof and Megan and our two lovely grandchildren!  The weather has been beautiful, the flowers a treat to see and Analiese’s sweet smile and Willem’s warm cuddly little body, so special.  Doyle is working on the shed and I am hopefully a bit of a help to Megan.  Analiese and I have gotten re-acquainted and gone on a walk (hopefully many more to come), have played with her kitchen, and markers and read books.  Being a “Nali” is one of my joys in life.  So here are the pictures!  Lots more in the photos on Xanga.