May has always been a busy month for us. More so for me, because of all the gifts I always have to buy in this happy spring month. But this year may take the cake for the busiest of all. Lets go on a preview ride of what’s in store starting in just a few short weeks.
To start things out – Mother’s Day is May 8th. Gift number 1. We usually take a trip to Olde Town Portsmouth to check out the annual art show and then off to lunch or dinner somewhere. Sometimes the really cool Bier Garden for beer and german food.
Next up, on May 10th my daughter plays in the Bay Youth Orchestra Finale concert. She plays violin in the Strings Orchestra and this is their big end of year concert before they break for the summer.
The next day starts the not so pleasant business of heading up to Richmond for tests to see if I have prostate cancer – which I wrote about in a previous blog post. May 11th I’m having an MRI done and if they see something suspicious, then I’m back the next day for a biopsy. Fun stuff…
The weekend of May 13-15 is the Norfolk Greek Festival. Always a great time. Tons of food and beer and wine and costumes and dancing and music and hanging with friends and enjoying the spring weather. Like I said – always a great time.
May 18th is mine and my wife’s 20th wedding anniversary. Wow – 20 years. Gift number 2. We have this tradition to always get each other something from the anniversary gift list. This year is china. This year will be a challenge. Our plans are to take the day off from work and go hang out doing some of our favorite things. Then dinner that night. Ruth’s Chris. Sizzle. Steak.
2 days later on the 20th is my wife’s birthday. Gift number 3. What do you get someone who is turning 29 again?
May 21-22 is the spring Stockley Gardens Art show. This is another one of our absolute favorite things to do. Lots of really nice art – food – spring flowers and plants – music – more art – dogs – people watching – and lots of crazy art. We usually meet up with our friends, debate over whether we have the money to buy something, and then end up someplace for dinner.
On May 24 my daughter has another orchestra concert. This time the end of year concert for her middle school orchestra – and she has a solo…
May 27th sees us heading out of town for the weekend. We will be off to the mountains for 3 nights staying at the Big Meadows Lodge on Skyline Drive. It will be a weekend of hiking, going to wineries and a brewery, animal watching, eating, drinking, watching sunsets and hanging as a family. We are probably going to walk through the campus of UVA too – to start giving our daughter an idea of what the other colleges in Virginia are like besides ODU and W&M. Our favorite wineries to go to up in the mountains are the Jefferson Vineyards and Barboursville Vineyards – both in the Charlottesville area. The brewery we want to go check out again is Starr Hill, also just outside Charlottesville. All three of these stops boast top notch products and wonderful views.
Well – that’s pretty much it, except for my daughter’s Thursday night volleyball practice and Saturday afternoon games – doctors and dentist appointments scattered about – and strawberry season! Getting out to the farms to pick, pick, pick – and then strawberry pies, and strawberry shortcake, and strawberry sangria. And once this busy month is done – summer kicks in – and the real fun begins….
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