Feeling Like Fall

Today we remembered that every once in a while it's good to take a time out and just relax.  And what better than a fine autumn day at one of Loudoun county's vineyards?  It was a positively gorgeous weekend to be outdoors, so we decided to meet up with some friends for wine and cheese tasting and a picnic.  Simone and I headed over to Wegman's bright and early this morning to get some picnic food while dad cut the grass, and then off to the winery.

In our old basement we had a large framed map of Napa from our trip there years ago, and Simone always loved looking at it and asking about it.  Today she got to find out what wine was all about... MINUS the tasting part, of course!!!

 This beautiful little butterfly (a Monarch, Simone quickly pointed out) seemed to be posing for us.  Such stunning colors... how perfectly autumn.

After our picnic, Simone and daddy took a mile hike through the forest path behind this little pavilion.  Mommy had to stay behind to keep the wine safe ;-) lol!

We lingered for several hours, eating, drinking, talking and just taking in the nature.  All in all, just what we needed after a hectic, stressful week.  We definitely need to start doing more of this!