He wakes up early each morning to cook breakfast and feed the animals. She labors over the stove making delicious lunches and dinners, southern style (i.e. cook everything with ham, lots of butter, and sugar). Their days are filled with visiting with friends and family, going to church, making the drive into town to visit Walmart and Hardee’s. Oh, and a nap. After lunch, of course. When the weather’s nice, evenings are spent on the front porch, overlooking peace and quiet.

For the first part of this week James and I traveled with my parents down to my grandparent’s farm in Virginia to visit them and the rest of our extended family that live there. My grandparent’s have lived on the same farm for over 50 years. I grew up going to visit them for a week or so every summer, helping to pick potatoes, drive the tractor (with my grandpa’s help of course), ride the golf cart around, and play with the animals. There are a lot of memories housed in that place, as it’s where my mom and her siblings grew up as well.

On the way down we stayed a night at Pipestem Resort State Park in West Virginia. That place is beautiful and I wish we had had more time there to explore. Next time we go back I want to take the aerial tram ride over the Bluestone River Gorge! We saw SO many deer on our way in the park…

This was the view we woke up to in the morning…

Our country living is the city compared to where my grandparents live. It’s in the coooouunnnntry!

There are so many cool things around the farm. It’s pretty much the American Pickers dream place. :-)

Maggie is SUCH a sweet dog. A little shy at first, but immediately falls in love with you when you rub her belly. :-)

There’s kind of a running joke that my grandparent’s only use about 5 names when they name their animals… Throughout the years dogs have usually been “Maggie,” “Bear,” or “Jack.” If they have a white cat, it’s automatically “Snowball.” Orange one? “Tiger.” I guess it makes it easy to remember their names. :-)

And this would be how my cousins made homemade banana ice cream that was out-of-this-world delicious. I would have taken a picture of the finished product, but I ate it too fast. ;-)

James always says they are “the cutest old couple” he’s ever seen. I might have to agree. :-)

Have a great weekend and stay cool!!

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