Cousins

After the MACC, we drove up to Frederick to meet my sister and her boys. We met at Cafe Rio for lunch first. 

Sawyer and Benjamin were so happy to see each other. 

And I was able to snuggle up to this little nugget! I hadn't seen him since he was born, which is way to long. He loved his Aunt Rachel!

After eating our delicious lunch, we headed to the Southern Creamery. It's a local farm that produces milk and ice cream and other produce. They have lots of cows, a play ground, a barn full of baby calves that you can feed milk bottles to, and an ice cream shop.

I got lots of hugs, kisses and giggles from Samuel. 

There were several tractors for the kids to climb on. Sawyer wanted to test out all of them. 

The kids got to pick which calf they wanted to feed and the farmers brought giant milk bottles to them.

Our last adventure at the farm was picking out our fresh ice cream. 

We were really close to a monument and a short hike so we decided to go exploring. 

It was a nice little hike to the Washington Monument. It was originally built in 1827 as a monument to George Washington, and also the first monument to him. It was also used during the Civil War. 

You can climb to the top and it has stunning views. I'm sure it's even better in the summer and fall when the trees aren't bare. 

This map at the site shows you what you are looking at in the valley below. 

A view from the back.

The monument didn't take very long, so we headed to a little park we saw to squeeze out every minute we could together. 

But eventually we all had to leave and head our separate ways. Alex went to Christy's to spend a few days with them and we headed home. It was a jam packed and awesome day.