Best Day of the Year

I hope you are all enjoying the happiest day of the year! I have discovered, much to my pleasure, that the 31^st birthday seems to be the chocolate birthday. My kitchen table is gradually being overtaken by chocolate. Of all the sites in the world, that is certainly a pleasant one.

Yesterday we stole Josh away from the world of Wharton and had an entire day of celebration. We started off enjoying the beautiful East Cost Autumn at Longwood Gardens. Climbing trees, playing hide-and-seek in the topiary, and exploring the tree houses left us with a wonderful appetite for lunch at the “resernaut”, as Kate calls it. All of the food looked so good that none of us could decide what to order. We all chose something different and cut everything into thirds--a happy solution to indecision. From there we went into the conservatory to see the chrysanthemum festival, ending in my favorite room surrounded by orchids. Just in case that wasn’t enough we took a drive through the beautiful Pennsylvania countryside and found a chocolate factory, where we stocked up on dark chocolate, and a glass blowing shop. My girls gave me some treats they picked out at Trader Joe’s: pepermint oreos, veggie chips, and a stack of chocolate bars. It was pretty much the perfect day.

We have been battling the first of the winter bugs. This one can’t decide what to be so it randomly cycles among congestion, nausea, fever, croupy cough, and general grumpiness. Unfortunately we timed the arrival of the bug with the arrival of Grandma Shelly. We have done our best to pretend we are all feeling fine.

We did make it out one day on a grand tour of the historical district. We saw the liberty bell, toured Independence Hall, visited the Constitution Center, took an audio tour at the Betsy Ross House, and discovered Elfreth’s Alley, a quaint cobblestone street that is the longest continuously inhabited street in the country. Since a grand tour would be incomplete without a tasty treat, we finished the day off at an old fashioned ice cream parlor, The Franklin Fountain.

Jane has taken to Grandma. She won’t let me do anything, it is always, “Gama. Gama.” She almost jumped out of my arms today in church when I tried to pick her up. Grandma Shelly loves it and it suits me just fine.

Josh is off at some church meeting and I haven’t heard from the girls in a while, so I had better be off to find out what mess I need to clean up next. Eat some chocolate and think of me today; in case you didn’t get my subtle references, it’s my birthday! ☺

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!