Two girls and a birthday trip !

Today Kate and I are taking our annual "birthday trip"...this year to Annie's Sunshine Lavender Farm in Hillsborough.  She got a new camera for her birthday last week, so we should have lots of good pictures to share with you later.

I'll explain the origin of our "birthday trip" ritual........

   When Kate turned six, I woke her up and told her..."no school today; we're going to the Asheboro Zoo".  We had a ball, of course, and I reveled in spending an entire day with my sweet daughter.  She enjoyed the day and talked about it lots....more about the "surprise" portion than the actual zoo visit !

Well, I didn't do it every year but on her 15th birthday I woke her up with "...No school today, we're catching a plane for New York City in a couple of hours!" We had a great weekend there, saw plays, toured ground zero, shopped and explored together.  Her Dad surprised us with champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries sent to our hotel room !! Another unforgetable memory !!

Well, we don't get THAT level of decadence very often, but even the small surprise trips are memorable. One year we went to pick strawberries at a local farm...another time we went to breathe some Nordstrom air (our very favorite air)! It's always great fun just being together...

We'll try to learn everything we can about lavender and return with some great pictures !

Update on Sunday, June 6, 2010 at 08:11PM by Nancy

Mom and I had so much fun at the lavender farm! It was bright and sunny - the perfect way to celebrate a birthday!

In true Nancy and Kate fashion, we made a pit stop before we even arrived at the lavender farm. I spied a curbside sale at Replacements, Ltd. from I-40 and we quickly merged across four lanes of traffic in order to take stock of the event.

Though we didn't find any treasures at Replacements, it's always fun to browse. More importantly, we were back on the road to the lavender farm. It was so beautiful! The farm harvests many species of lavender and utilizes them for varying purposes. Our tour guide mentioned dozens of culinary uses (we tried both lavender lemonade and lavender ice cream) but also explained that she had recently mailed clippings to a bride who was incorporating the plant into her wedding.

While truly interesting, the day was almost a sensory overload. The farm bursts with color.

And did I mention how relaxing everything smelled...? Seriously...I was sweating like crazy (did we have a temperature spike or something?!) but felt oddly peaceful. Go figure.

If you're interested in learning more about the farm, click here.

Update on Monday, June 7, 2010 at 07:07AM by Nancy

Hat's off to Annie, owner of the Sunshine Lavender Farm.  She is a hard-working-while-loving-it gal!  She grows her family's produce, tends the lavender, and chickens, and ponies and looks amazingly calm and happy !  The farm tour was great fun ! - Nancy