Tea time with Granny

My mom and I are always looking for special things to do together, 

and while I was on Maternity Leave I figured this would be a good time to get together because when I go back to work I know my schedule is going to be a little crazy.  

I had a Groupon for the Pink Bicycle Tea Room in Occaquan that was going to expire in June so I asked my mom what date was good for her and we made reservations.

The Groupon was for the Queen's Tea which is the biggest option.  Normally 56$ for two- my groupon I paid $24 for.

The tea room is in cute little Occaquan- parking was hard as we went on a Friday afternoon.

I took Collin with us because he is really well behaved and she put us in small room so if he started fussy he would not bother anyone- he was great and did not fuss at all!

Collin Dressed in his tea room best!

Our tea came with a choice of soup or salad, a scone, and sandwhiches/desserts.

We each had our choice of tea- I went with a Pomogranite because it was Caffeeine Free and my mom went with Key Lime which was actually very good!

My mom and I had done tea at the Mayflower in DC 2 years ago which was definetly a fun but upscaled event.  This was much for laid back, and with a baby was much appreciated.

The Tea room is more antique is the best way to put it, with mismatched china, and old paintings. 

Very different from the Mayflower but what I would have expected from a cute place in the Occaquan.

We both had the soup which was excellent and the food was great.

While I totally had fun, I do not know if I would do the Queen's Tea again, I might try something a little small as it was alot of food and my mom and I could barely eat all of it and if I was paying full price I would say it is a little pricey but then again this is something my mom and I only do when we get Groupons or Specialicious deals- that is also how we went to the Mayflower.  

The pro of going during the week is the tea room was not busy which meant we were not rushed at all. We got there at 1pm and did not leave until around 3 pm. 

I would imagine it being more lively on a Weekend day. 

The massive amounts of food!

Granny and Collin- sleeping because that is what he does best.

All and all it was a fun outing.

Paradise Springs Winery

A couple weekends ago Joe and I decided to venture out for the day and have a Date day with Collin, 

since we are staringd to try to get him in bed by 8 unless there is something planned, we often do our dates during the day unless we have a babysitter- aka my parents.  

Joe and I love wineries as many of you know, but I hate driving to them, especially now with a baby because it means he sleeps the whole way there and the whole way back and then is a little fussy the rest of the day and does not sleep as well at night.   Joe and I decided to either try two of the wineries that were close to us- either Paradise Springs Winery in Clifton or Winery at Bull Run in Centreville.  

We opted for Paradise Springs Winery because they had a nice outdoor picnic area that was very spread out in case we had baby melt down- which we did of course =0)

It took us 20 minutes to get there- straight off 29, turn left on Clifton road and follow the signs.  Very easy.  Joe and I decided to just get a bottle of wine and chance it instead of doing a tasting.  We are on more of a budget right now with me not working so it was silly to each pay 10$ for a tasting and then buy a bottle of wine for lunch.  Joe and I looked at the wines and decided to go with the Cabernet Franc because this is a wine we both like.  We bough out bottle of wine and headed out door to the pinic area.  They did have a huge outdoor patio but with Collin we did not want him fussing and causing disturbance to any of the other patrons.  

The pinic area was perfect and apparently a place you take babies- there were 4 others that we saw!

Baby at a winery!!! WAHOO!!!!

The wine itself was excellent- so good that I want to go back and actually do a tasting now.  

I love that the place is close and also that there are picnic areas which can make it a low cost date afternoon.  We packed our own picnic and purchased a bottle of wine which was $28 dollars.  

Awesome date day for $28.

I see this on our favorites.  

But the best thing was we had a blast with Collin!

Bouncing Babies

I will admit that new mom groups have not been for me.

I went to the hospital group twice and after the second time just felt that I would rather do something else with my time.  I felt that as a whole I really did not have in major concerns to talk about and the concerns other people talked about at this stage were not of interest to me. 

It also was at the worse time for us- feed/nap time.

My friend suggested I look into the library programs and to be honest I was waiting until Collin was a little older and had his first set of shots.  I am not a crazy mom when it comes to germs but I knew he would be surrounded by crawling babies so just wanted to wait until he was a little older.

Last week I went for our 1st Bouncing Babies at the Chantilly Library.

I totally loved it for what it was.

While Collin is still probably too young for it at 10 weeks he did great and loved all the colors.

Basically it is a class for babies up to 11 months, and it teaching reading thru song and repitition.

We all sit in a semi-circle and have toys/books to stimulate the children.

I loved it because it has got me on this music kick with Collin.

This is something I want to continue to go to-

 unfortanely it does fill up fast so you have to be quick to sign up =0)

This is probably because it is one of the free things which is an added plus!

Kind of Bummed...

Since Joe and I tied the knot in 2009- 

The Month of May has always been ours....

Meaning each year we have taken an amazing trip!!!
Joe promised when we got married to help show me the world.  

 May 2009 

Our honeymoon in Madeira, Portugal

10 nights = AMAZING

May 2010

Little Vacay in Napa, CA

May 2011

Our Amazing trip to Greece

This was truly the trip of a life time..

May 2012

Maui, Hawaii to celebrate our both turning 30!

So this May, as you can imagine with a 2  1/2 month old we will not be taking an amazing trip...

Yes I am kind of bummed as I normally would start planning or packing or arranging everything around this time- but this year I will be busy being a mom.....

That being said it will be my first night away from Collin thanks to my awesome parents who are giving Joe and me a night off for our anniversary.....
Now to decide what to do...

Furthermore, we have decided that next year we will be taking a little trip without Collin, again thanks to my parents.  Any suggestions on close places with direct flights from DCA or IAD to all inclusive resorts that are good?