Browsing Tag

adventure

Blog, Faith, Family, Parenting, prayer

Pumpkin fun: Louisburg Cider Mill with Annabelle & Violet

I had promised our granddaughters, Annabelle and Violet, to do something fun with them when this new year started. So I took them to the Louisburg Cider Mill pumpkin patch. I had no idea they were having a festival this weekend and it was so crowded–and hot!

First, though, I had lunch alone with our beautiful daughter Heather for us to talk. We tried out a new coffee shop in Belton, Kneaders, which also serves pastries and sandwiches. Heather and I both ordered the turkey-avocado-bacon sandwich. It was so yummy!

Lunch with our beautiful daughter Heather

Lunch with our beautiful daughter Heather

 

Turkey-avocado-bacon sandwich at Kneaders

Turkey-avocado-bacon sandwich

Here are Annabelle and Violet at the Louisburg Cider Mill. Such pretty girls and they are growing up so fast!

Annabelle & Violet at Louisburg Cider Mill

Annabelle & Violet at Louisburg Cider Mill

The line into the store which sold the apple cider and cider doughtnuts was ridiculously long, but it went fast. Naturally, it went all throughout the store so you’d be sure to buy things! I bought some postcards for family, and our cider doughnuts and drinks.

Violet commented on how rich the owners would be with all those people buying doughnuts. Yes, I wish I could bottle their secret and sell my books like that! Maybe I should get into the doughnut biz! 🙂 I thought this sunflower coffee cup below was really cute. 

long line into store

long line into store

 

sunflower cup

sunflower cup

I ordered 2 dozen doughnuts for our family. We sat in the shade on hay bales to eat our cider doughnuts and drink our apple cider. They were delicious!

Enjoying our cider doughnuts!

Enjoying our cider doughnuts!

 

Apple Cider

Apple Cider

As we ate, a band was playing bluegrass music with banjos. It reminded me of the TV show HeeHaw, which my father used to watch as he relaxed at night, drinking beer and eating salted boiled peanuts (boiled peanuts are a southern thing!). The girls and I listened awhile, although that’s not my style of music!

Crowd listening to bluegrass

Crowd listening to bluegrass music

There were lots of vendor booths at the festival. The girls wanted to get their faces painted. Violet chose a pretty flower and Annabelle picked a lovely butterfly. The young woman who painted these was so talented and sweet.

Violet with her flower face painting

Violet with her flower face painting

 

Annabelle with her butterfly face painting and the artist by her

Annabelle with her butterfly face painting and the artist by her

Violet and I noticed the white pumpkins and other unusual-colored ones. She said they looked painted. 

pumpkins

pumpkins

I did stop by another booth before we left to try some fresh-squeezed lemonade. It could have used a little more sugar, but was cold and tart.

lemons

lemons

Afterward, I babysat our precious granddaughter Piper, while her dad Craig and her mom Eden went out to Longhorn Steakhouse and to shop at Target for their two year wedding anniversary. I was happy that Piper said my name, “Nana.” When Violet and I clapped after she said Violet’s name, my name and other family’s names, Piper clapped, too. So cute!

Craig and Eden are expecting their new baby soon, so it may be awhile before they can go on regular dates after the baby comes! We’re excited about the new addition to our family!

Violet & Piper

Violet & Piper

 

Our daughter Eden & her husband Craig

Our daughter Eden & her husband Craig

Overall, it was a fun family day for me! I hope the girls enjoyed it, too.

Girls and me

Girls and me

I’m planning to do more fun things this year with my family. How do you make memories with your family? Ber sure to keep writing and doing your bucket list! Leave your comments below.

Blog, Faith, Parenting, prayer, Travel

Streetcar in Kansas City. Another thing off my bucket list!

My beautiful daughter Heather & me at Chez Elle

My beautiful daughter Heather & me at Chez Elle

On Saturday, our daughter Heather and I went to eat crepes for breakfast at Chez Elle Creperie in Kansas City and while there, we rode the streetcar on a cable in Kansas City. I had so much fun! I was able to scratch off another thing on my bucket list!

Chez Elle is a Parisian atmosphere coffeehouse, inspired by France when owner Ellen Trakas lived there. It has sweet and breakfast crepes, Gluten free, Vegan, buckwheat batters available, a full coffee bar, espresso, cappucino, Lattes, Mochas, French wines and spirits.

Paris pics

Paris pics

Cute Paris paintings in Chez Elle

Cute Paris paintings in Chez Elle

Menu

Menu

fresh flowers on table

fresh flowers on table

French doors

French doors

coffee art

coffee art

Eiffel Tower deco

Eiffel Tower deco

It has cute tables and chairs under umbrellas, like the outside cafes are in Paris, France. (I’ve been there twice.)

Chez Elle

Chez Elle

Heather ordered a spicy chorizo sausage with eggs and potatoes (Monsier crepes) and a cinnamon roll and I ordered the Paris crepes with Nutella chocolate and bananas. YUM! We both drank cinnamon iced coffee.

Heather's chorizo sausage & egg crepes

Heather’s chorizo sausage & egg crepes

Heather's cinnamon roll

Heather’s cinnamon roll

My Nutella chocoate-banana crepes with whip cream

My Nutella chocoate-banana crepes with whip cream

After we enjoyed our crepes, we walked around the neighborhood and visited the By Grace Shop. They sell beautiful lingerie and clothing,which are hand-made by women in Tamale, Ghana and Bangalore, India. The shop donates beautiful lingerie to the homeless, sexually abused, and other women. Underwear is the least donated item to the homeless.

Lace lingerie

Lace lingerie

Women in Ghana and India also hand-make blouses, skirts, dresses, jewelry, and other items that the owner sells at the store and online. Heather and I loved this place. The owner was so sweet and beautiful. She shared how her grandmother was a great artist and the owner decided to get a tattoo of her grandmother’s art before her grandma died. She laughingly said her mother didn’t normally approve of tattoos but in this case, she did since it was the grandmother’s art.

Satin robe

Satin robe

Hand-made items in third world nations

Hand-made items in third world nations

I loved this black grace T-shirt and white Africa tank top

I loved this black grace T-shirt and white Africa tank top

bracelets

bracelets

comfy lounge wear

comfy lounge wear

cute desk

cute desk

The most important thing a girl wears is her confidence

The most important thing a girl wears is her confidence

Near Chez Elle were black iron gates that made a perfect backdrop for a pic for Heather and me. Cute!

Heather by black iron gate

Heather by black iron gate

Me by black iron gate

Me by black iron gate

A couple doors down outside Chez Elle, we saw a tall house with unique architecture that Heather loved. It had beautiful purple hibiscus flowers outside it.

unique house

unique house

There was a pretty mimosa tree like a canopy down the sidewalk.

Mimosa

Mimosa

I also saw purple lavender planted beside one sidewalk. So pretty!

lavender

lavender

After we walked around, we rode on the Kansas City streetcar. It is free and on weekends, parking is free, too–which is a BIG deal in Kansas City! Heather had gone on the streetcar before at night with a friend, and it wasn’t crowded then.

KC streetcard

KC streetcar

streetcar on cable

streetcar on cable

This was on a Saturday during the day, so it was very crowded! I had a blast riding it! Another thing checked off my bucket list! Heather and I both want to ride a red one in San Francisco.

Heather riding on streetcar

Heather riding on streetcar

We stopped at Union Station (a former big train station in KC) to buy some water and to chat a little while, which was one of the funnest parts for me. I loved being able to just spend time with Heather, as she works full-time and is often busy. We went into a cool black light tent with some art, laughing at how it made our shirts glow cool colors.

Heather in black light tent

Heather in black light tent

art in black light tent

art in black light tent

During World War II, approximately one million people, many of them soldiers, passed through Union Station. It was built in 1914 and has 850,000 square feet that originally featured 900 rooms.

Union Station chandelier

Union Station chandelier

It has a 95 foot ceiling and three 3,500-pound chandeliers hanging from the ceilings. This building has a planetarium, Science City where I’ve taken our kids during our homeschooling years, live theatre, and giant screen movies. You can also take train trips from Amtrak there.

Union Station

Union Station

sign at Union Station

sign at Union Station

Our next stop was the City Market, which is the largest farmers’ market in the region and has amazing fresh produce, spices, flowers, and international grocers. I am definitely going back!

fresh produce

fresh produce

spices

spices

fresh sunflowers

fresh sunflowers

bouquets of fresh flowers

bouquets of fresh flowers

international grocers

international grocers

One vendor booth had wines to sample. We tried both the white and red sweet wines, and Heather bought a bottle of the white for dinner later with a friend. She also bought a glass coaster at one shop. I bought Heather and our daughter Leah a bouquet of fresh flowers. I have some things in mind to buy on my trip back there for souvenirs.

Heather with her sunflowers

Heather with her sunflowers

Heather got a raspberry cheesecake beignet at a Cajun restaurant. They are a deep-fried pastry and the official state doughnut of Louisiana, often served at breakfast hot and filled with fruit. They are covered in white powdered sugar and taste delicious.

beignet

beignet

I had an amazing time with Heather. Here’s a great pic of us together riding the Kansas City streetcar. 

My beautiful daughter Heather & me on KC streetcar

My beautiful daughter Heather & me on KC streetcar

Afterward, I was able to spend time with our beautiful daughter Leah alone when she got off work at her cashier job, and talk with her for about two hours. She’s now training for a customer service position there at her grocery store.

Our beautiful, precious daughter Leah

Our beautiful, precious daughter Leah

There’s simply nothing better than time with a daughter! It was an incredible day for me and I was so happy!

“One of the greatest gifts I’ve ever gotten is my daughter.”–Ace Frehley

What is on your bucket list for 2017? Make a decision that you are going to start doing it, one adventure at a time!

Blog

My new website theme

“She refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn’t boring.” ~ Zelda Fitzgerald, The Collected Writings

I don’t like being bored and seek to live a happy, fulfilling, productive, and spiritually fruitful life. This includes my speaking/writing business.

About once or twice a year, I become restless and want to change my website theme. A theme is the way your website looks. Think of it like clothes on a person’s body, the way you are dressed.

woman in bonjour shirt

Some people enjoy dressing up, like you’re going out for a night on the town. Other women, like me, are more comfortable in blue jean jackets and boots (I’m also a flip flop beach kind of girl). Whatever your preference, you have your own taste. So it is with websites.

Me, at Canterybury Hills vineyard with Ray in Jefferson City, MO

Me, in my blue jean jacket at Canterybury Hills vineyard with Ray in Jefferson City, MO

Last night I changed my WordPress website theme. It is called The Lucy Lou by AngieMakes. You can find out more by clicking here: Shop Angie Makes WordPress Themes!

I’ve tried to simplify my website for easier navigation for you. I removed a lot of the widgets from the right sidebar because I felt it looked too cluttered and was distracting.

I also removed some of the child pages from the menu at the top for the same reason. My speaking page, for example, has all the links you need on it to find out more about my speaking at women’s conferences and events.

Beth Jones, International Speaker/Author

Beth Jones, speaking at Aglow in Olathe, KS

Want to get to know me better or to find out more about my online business? You can find out more on my About page. I included a link on that page with my family pictures.

You can read my newest blog posts by either clicking on the heading Blog at the top of the page, or one of the 3 most recent blog post links on the right sidebar. (You can also sign up on the right sidebar, to get my new blog posts by email.)

Each blog post also has buttons to share the content on your favorite social media sites.

Be sure to visit my store here with my latest books or products.

The Cinderella Story: The Power of Shoes Amazon Best Seller http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VN77IXQ/

The Cinderella Story: The Power of Shoes
Amazon Best Seller
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VN77IXQ/

Want to stay connected? You can get my video, You Weren’t Created To Fit In, But To Stand Out, by signing up on my personal mailing list for my bi-monthly ezine.

You’ll get encouraging Scriptures, quotes, videos, and new updates about my upcoming speaking engagements and new books. As a subscriber, you’ll be the first to hear the news! Just sign up at the top of the page on the right-hand side. 

Are you an event planner or know someone who needs a speaker for their women’s conference or event? Or do you want to get in touch with me for any reason? Contact me here.

Dear friend, I’m so thankful that you are here. I appreciate you stopping by my website and my prayer and mission are to encourage you to become all that God created you to be, fulfilling your great purpose and using your gifts for Him.

You can connect with me on Facebook here and follow me on Twitter here.

I’d love to know what you think of the new theme! Just leave your comments below.

*******

This blog post contains an affiliate link. This means I may make a little money if you click on the link and buy the product or service. I only recommend products or services that I’ve used or highly recommend. You don’t have to use my affiliate link, but I’d appreciate it so much if you would to help me bring in extra income for my family. I also donate 10% of my earnings to missions organizations. You can read my affiliate disclosure here.