Hidden Spring Farm

My family was invited to a BBQ at Hidden Spring Farm on Sunday.  One of the owners, Jeanette, is one of my tennis buddies who I went to Florida with this year.  (I thought I had a picture of her on that post but I'm still waiting on the jpeg file from my other tennis buddy, Heidi -- ha!)  Anyway, Jeanette and her husband, John, invited our family and two other tennis families over so the kids could swim, ride horses, run around, and we could all share a meal together.

It was a beautiful, perfect day.  John & Jeanette put together a fabulous day for us with our only contributions being hummus with bagel crisps and carrots and a gluten-free carrot cake.  The cake was an absolute hit!!!  Couldn't believe it. . .will have to order more to make soon.  Tom likes to eat gluten-free and two of my tennis friends are gluten-free too, hence the choice in my dessert.  But, seriously, they did EVERYTHING else.  Beautiful lawn, gorgeous table settings, clear pool, gentle horses. . . Look at the appetizer table:

Yep, those were just the appetizers!  I wasn't there for the main meal (I had to leave for 3 hours for a mandatory work meeting. . .on a SUNDAY) so no pics of that but there were left-overs. . .grilled burgers and buns, potato salad, and a yummy green salad with a delicious home-made dressing.  Here was our dessert table (notice, at this point, there is only one piece of carrot cake left!):

Those would be fresh, local strawberries and fresh whipped cream.  Frederick liked it so much that when that crock was emptied (scraped!) Jeanette, ever-the-hostess, went in the house and made more whipped topping.  Delish!

I missed the horse-riding too when I was gone. . .so I will live through the pictures that Tom so wonderfully took for me:

 This is a picture I snapped, just as I left, of Marie running out to the horses once she saw that Miss Jeanette was getting them out and brushing them up.

 Now a few more girls have found their way out there.  My new camera has a 24x zoom. . .incredible!  I was quite a distance away when I took this pic.

 My girls leading Magic & Beau out to ride with John walking between them.

 I'm presuming that John is giving the girls instruction. . .

 Marie's turn!

 And Margaret leading her friend, Faith.

 Now it's time to change roles. . .

 Margaret in her element.  I heard that she got to make a round "on her own".  She will remind you that she's been to horse camp twice -- ha!

 And there is Frederick on Magic.  I know horseback riding was the highlight for my kids. . .although the pool was a strong second. . .

 Beautiful Marie

 Thomas with his friend balancing on his shoulders

 Frederick being "tossed" by Dr. Clopton!

 A three-some. . .Thomas on the bottom, Frederick on top :)  They made several attempts on this before getting it right.

 Dr. JC and his namesake

 Almost all 11 kids were in the pool after dinner!

 A guest's attempt at "diving" off the step

Graceful Margaret, mis-matched (on purpose) and all. . .

And Tom & John taking it all in.  I love this picture :)

I wish I would have gotten a picture of our hosts together.  I looked back at last year and didn't one then either.  Boo. 

Leaving on one last picture I found on my camera. . .not sure who took it but I love it. . .

Thank you so very much, John & Jeanette, for the invitation and fun!!  Those 6 1/2 hours will be a highlight in our family's summer :)

~ The Bells