Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Peonies & Other Adventures


When Beth told me she wanted to drive 200 miles to buy some flowers I thought she was crazy.  Then I remembered two things about my sister:  one, she IS crazy, and two, she is really crazy about her flowers.  Have you seen her blog?  I mean, the girl planted a gajillion seeds in her garage this winter just for fun.  She has been researching this particular peony farm for months and was adamant that she was going there to purchase some peonies - her favorite flower.  Luckily for her, her sisters and mother are ridiculously supportive of her obsession and her extended family lives very close to the peony farm.  So, to the peony farm we all went.

We left for the Bay Area on Friday morning and I really think Beth would have preferred if we passed up Aunt Jen's house and headed straight to the peonies.  But, the agreement was we would be visiting the peonies Saturday morning at 9 am sharp!.  And I mean SHARP!!  Since this was supposed to be a relaxing weekend for me, I wasn't really in the mood to rush around Saturday morning to hurry to the peony farm.  I casually mentioned to Beth that maybe it would be OK if we didn't get to the peony farm exactly at 9 a.m., that perhaps 9:05 or even 9:10 would be acceptable.  Well, you would have thought I asked her to remove her right arm based on the death look I was given.  Alrighty then, 9 a.m. it is.  In actuality, we arrived at exactly 9:06 and thankfully, Beth did not have an aneurysm as a result of our tardiness.

The peony farm was actually pretty cool.  There were peonies everywhere, this lady specializes in growing them.  Beth was in her glory with all the flowers, and a fellow peony fanatic to talk to.

There were rows,

upon rows,

upon rows,

upon rows of peonies.

There were so many different colors and they really are a very pretty flower. 
While Beth chatted it up with the peony lady, I took a lot of pictures.

And more pictures.

And Laci practiced her walking.

If it weren't for Beth, I probably never would have seen the beautiful hills of Milpitas that we drove through to get to the peonies.  That part was very cool.  Since I was driving, I didn't get any pictures of the scenic drive up, but I did get this view from the peony farm.

After the peony excursion, we returned to the city where I was reminded that I'm a country bumpkin, driving a country bumpkin truck, in very unfriendly territory.  Seriously, I just don't understand city drivers.  Is it your goal to risk life and limb every time you drive to the store?  Oh, it isn't?  Well, you had me fooled.  

We had an awesome girls lunch at New Jersey's Cheese steaks, and an exciting trip to a two story Target.  You can tell I'm from the country when a two story Target is a big deal.  Heck, any Target is a big deal.  At least I wasn't taking pictures of the Target escalators like someone else I know, mom.  We returned to Aunt Jen's house after our adventures and finished our relaxing weekend with some tri-tip, Mad Gab, and lots of visiting.  Oh, and Beth had to tend to her flowers.


Laci was very good for most of the driving part of our trip, except the final hour on the way home when it was obvious she had spent entirely too much time in her car seat and not even Cheerios could help the situation.  To all parents who embark on road trips longer than three hours, I have profound respect for you.  You are much braver than I am. 

1 comment:

  1. Well at least someone got some pictures at the farm. I was way too occupied to be taking pictures. And yes that is a very unflattering picture of me. Why am I always digging my chin into my neck. I look a lot like mom in this pic don't you think? Maybe next year you will get some peonies...we are going back you know. I am ordering mine this fall and she is going to hold them for me until spring. :)

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