Wine, Chicks, and Cows

Ian's been enjoying meeting the chicks at the local Tractor Supply and Southern States. 

 My parents came for a visit and we tried to take advantage of the mild and beautiful weather by showing them some new places.

They'd never been to Chatteau Morrisette, so we went on a beautiful drive through Floyd and then onto the Blue Ridge Parkway to the winery. We planned it so that Ian would fall asleep on the 45 minute drive there. He was still sleeping, obviously, when we arrived, so Dad went in to purchase a bottle of wine for us while we waited.

This picture of him walking back to us makes me smile because he snuck jokingly, but also seriously, down the hill so as not to trigger the small yapping dog in the car near the sleeping Ian into another full episode of noise. It was funny watching Dad creep behind bushes with a wine bottle in hand. Ha!

So here they are, drinking wine and waiting for the sleeping toddler.

Then we did the wine tasting and Mom & Dad really enjoyed the wine selection. We followed it up with a tour, which I had never done myself. What a beautiful space!! All of these beams were reclaimed from somewhere underwater in Wisconsin. Sorry for the fuzzy phone photos.

 Dad tried to lie down on the ground for a good angle and took the picture. Each one had his toes :)

Since Mom had never been to Floyd, we stopped and walked around a bit. Unfortunately, everything was closed since it was a Monday. Everything except the hardware store. Ian got such joy from getting to try this tractor and the trikes in front of the store.

We'll have to go back next time they come to see the Jamboree and also the artsy stores around town.

On the way home we picked up barbecue from Due South, a really good barbecue place right down the street. YUM!

DAY TWO: Day two started the same as day one for Ian and my parents; they spent the morning at the playground and outside in our yard. Here are "the guys" in their meeting, just chatting.

Then we hit the road and stopped to visit the chicks again.

 And then went for a walk on The Huckleberry to stretching our legs, but mainly to see the cows!!

Then they treated us again to a pizza dinner and beer at Mellow Mushroom!! So good. Fortunately Jim was able to join us because he got off at a reasonable time! It was trivia night, so we decided to join in. Unfortunately, we missed one key question that we should have gotten, then tied for second and lost in the tie-breaker. But it was still really fun!

At one point Jim was changing Ian's diaper at the car, up the hill and fairly far away from the restaurant. They asked a question that none of us knew and Jim was the most likely candidate. I ran up the hill and shouted the question across the road and two college kids shouted back the answer as "Peter's Dad," but couldn't remember the name. That answer wasn't good enough when I got back to the restaurant. After it was too late, Jim texted the name because they came up with it while he stood and talked about it with the newfound friends. Ah well. Valiant effort on all parts.

Mom & Dad are seriously good at trivia. There's no way we would have been in the running without a few of their key answers. It was fun!

Today they played with Ian while I fell back asleep. Then we had breakfast and played with Ian before they had to hit the road back home. Thanks for great visit! We love you.