Grateful, Happy, Blessed

Thank you for visiting with me again today friends! This will conclude my travel blog posts and we will get back to my regularly scheduled creative content over the next week.

After flying back to the United States  - Heathrow to Chicago O'hare - I spent one final night at my parent's house in northern, IL before heading back to Kansas City via train. Of course, I managed to snap a few more lovely photos on their property before making my way home. As you read (and saw through my photos), it was an incredible trip and I am still in awe that I was able to make this fabulous journey alongside my parents. Time with them is treasured and a huge blessing, so I arrived home a bit worn out but with a huge smile on my face. Of course, my husband and our two German Shepherds were very happy to see me - and while it is spectacular to travel and see more of the world, it is always good to be home. I hope you enjoyed traveling along with me...

I should also mention, this is the property where I collect all the acorn caps for my wool felted acorns. You can find a large selection of wool felted acorns in my etsy shop, in various colors.

A Beautiful Beginning

Greetings friends! If you have been following me for a while, then you know I just took an incredible trip abroad with my momma and second dad. They asked me in August if I would accompany them on a trip to Paris and London in September...and everyone around the world probably heard me squeal. I was not only excited for the journey to new and unexplored places, but to spend time with my parents - something I don't get an opportunity to do nearly as often as I would like. With my husband and I living in Kansas City and my parents living in northern Illinois, we have found the easiest way to travel between our homes is by train...so, on an early September morning, I started my extended travel by making my way to their beautiful lake house property via Amtrak. I will be breaking down our travel into several posts, as I have quite a bit of beauty to share. 

This first post is focused on photos I took on their property in Illinois before we departed for Paris. As my regular readers are aware, my parents live in a wonderful, gated, lake community in Northwest Illinois and they have an extensive property. My momma's true passion is for gardening and every time I visit, I can't wait to take my photo skills into her incredible gardens. With her age, she has started to simplify her plantings to be more manageable, but to me they are just as grand. Here are some favorite photos from our visit, the day before our flight to France...and within these photos, you will find my favorite photo of my momma (in her element)...

When I tell you that this was the perfect way to start our journey, I mean it from the bottom of my heart. There is something so special about spending time with them at their home surrounded by the beauty of nature. It has the most calming, refreshing effect on me...oh, how I long to live next door...

This was day one, so be sure to stop back for my next update, when I share about our time in Paris...which exceeded all of my expectations...

Happy in Hermann

Greetings friends! I thought I would pop in for a visit on a Sunday night. My husband and I returned earlier today from a long weekend in Hermann, Missouri and I thought I would share a plethora of photos from our trip.  Hermann is picturebook village in the Missouri River Valley that is known as Missouri Wine Country. A lovely small town that we like to visit once a year to unplug and unwind. We rented a lovely little Airbnb cottage downtown, where we could walk to all the restaurants and shopping and a quiet, quaint, little craft cocktail bar that we have found to be a favorite place. There are wonderful wineries throughout the area and we enjoy taking the trolley for a day to visit each one (it is hop on and hop off)....and it drops us off right at our lodging at the end of the day. 

This year, we decided to take The Shire Experience at Hermann Farm (one of my very favorite places) and get up close and personal with the shire draft horses. My husband and I were the only people on the tour, which made it an incredible experience. The Hermann Farm handlers and trainers showed us about the care, harnessing and driving of these magnificent horses - and then we were able to take a four-seat surrey (fancy farm wagon) ride pulled by the shire horses around the incredible 200 acre property. I was amazed at how much time we were able to spend with the shire horses and they were extremely affectionate and powerful at the same time. The farm also houses a draft mule and several sheep that we saw grazing on our ride around the farm. I loved this experience so much, it was a very special day.

While in Hermann, we also enjoyed wonderful food and wine, took several walks along the Missouri riverfront, and recharged. I really needed a break before the next month. As I mentioned in a previous post, I found out a couple weeks ago I would be taking a trip overseas with my parents in September. We are headed to Paris and London (a trip I never thought I would be taking in my lifetime!). We are going to be visiting some incredible places and I am thrilled I get to spend quality time with them for few weeks. It wasn't on my bingo card to be out of the country for a couple weeks (so soon!) and I am scrambling a bit to accomplish everything I need to do before we leave. The old saying - work hard, play hard. So, the Hermann trip was a restful few days away with my husband, before I am in a work frenzy.

As promised, here are some of my favorite sights from our trip...

I hope you enjoyed this trip to Hermann, MO through my camera lens. I will be back with more creative posts very soon! Have a great week and make time to do something special...