For the fourth of July, Jeff and I strayed from our usual plan of heading down to Corolla and instead ventured up north to Lake Meade in Pennsylvania to visit our friends Quinn, Dave, and baby Kennedy (still in Quinn's belly). We left Richmond on Thursday night and made a stop in Mt. Vernon to visit with Jeff's Uncle Rick and his wife Ellen. We had a nice long visit with them where admired Rick's garage full of tools which Jeff is now VERY envious of and snacked on Rick's delicious guacamole. It was very nice to spend some time with Rick and Ellen out on the deck and catch up with what is going on in their lives.
From Mt. Vernon, we headed West to Haymarket, VA to spend the evening at Krysta and Ryan's new and might I say beautiful townhome. They have painted the house in gorgeous colors and their decorations are great. After a few margaritas with Krysta, Ryan, Jenny, Doug, Lellis and Tom and some college reminiscing (can we say belly shirts and britney pants), we hit the hay.
On Friday morning, we woke up and drove up to Quinn and Dave's new house in PA. We passed many farmers markets on the way and decided to stop at Mr. Naturals to admire the flowers and the view and to purchase some fresh cherries, cucumbers, and potatos. The drive up to the new house was beautiful as is the scenery around the house. I completely understand their decision to move.
When we arrived, Quinn, the wonderful hostess that she is, had homemade Sangria ready for the girls and Dave had a full keg for the boys. Because of the gloomy weather, the girls sipped Sangria inside and chatted and chatted and chatted. The boys drank many cups of keg beer while playing bocce and brewing homemade beer. Jeff was extremely interested in the home brewing process and I can see us trying out this process in the future. We have already looked up a home brew store but the closest one is in Charlottesville. Quinn prepared a delicious lunch for us which began the weekend of large feasts.
For dinner, some of the girls went into town to pick up barbeque and we feasted again. Dinner was followed by a funny game called Dirty Minds.
Saturday morning, we slowly woke up and again Quinn and Dave provided a delicious feast of pancakes and fruit and then we suited up for an afternoon spent at Quinn's parents house which is a complete country oasis. They built their house themselves many years ago and it is full of unexpected details that make it on of a kind. Just when I thought I was in the middle of the country, I stepped out onto their back deck and was met with a little piece of island paradise. The deck stairs lead down to a pool and the most incredible homemade tiki bar I have ever seen. 
We spent the afternoon eating yummy food prepared by Mrs. Miller and drinking Holy Moly Mangos. Words cannot describle how delicious this drink is. It is a secret recipe concocted by Mr. Miller and it is the perfect drink for a summer afternoon. So delicious, in fact, that we kept drinking and drinking and drinking them. Now back to the tiki bar-you truly feel like you are in another place when hanging out there. It has a trellis with a cool kiwi vine growing all over it, more bottles of liquor than I have ever seen in someone's home, a fire pit and more.
Thanks to the Millers for the lovely afternoon.
On Saturday night, we went back to the house and everyone took part in creating another huge feast. From Percy's mac and cheese, Ryan's ranch burgers, some brats, dogs, our cukes, and our potatos to Jenny's magnificent fourth of July trifle dessert, I ate more than my mini stomach could handle. But it was delicious. After dinner, we went across the street and down a little path to the lake to watch some fireworks over the water. After dinner, guess what we did-eat! Krysta coaxed us all over to the fire pit to roast marshmallows and make smoares.
On Sunday morning, we got up and hit the road back to Richmond.
THANKS to Quinn and Dave and the rest of the Miller clan for a wonderful 4th of July. You are all wonderful hosts and hostesses.
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