Barclay Farmstead

Yesterday I decided to take the girls for a hike and picnic lunch at Barclay Farmstead. It is only about 2 miles from our house in a neighboring development but I had never been before. A friend at the pool mentioned she went hiking with her family the day before so I thought it might be fun to check it out with the girls. Our weather has been stellar. We've had a week of no humidity with temperatures in the 70's and blue skies. I love to be outside in this weather.

The farmstead was built in 1816 by a Quaker farmer by the name of Joseph Thorn. There is a main farmhouse that is now used as a museum and which is surrounded by 32 acres of agrarian landscape. It is such a jewel nestled in this neighborhood and so close to us! We were the only people at the farmstead (see my lonely car?).

The main house is beautiful. It was open but I didn't venture in with the girls. I want to go back with Andy so I think we'll look inside then. There was a little old lady that kept watching us through the window. I'm sure she was probably eager to talk to someone but doubtful she wanted two young children touching everything.

There are several small structures around the main house. I'm not sure what they are and when Lilly asked I told her we needed Daddy with us since he's very knowledgeable about most everything!! I knew that he'd know what they were.

I loved the architecture of this little barn. It had one bail of hay inside. Lilly wanted to know where the horses were.

This little house was so pretty. I could tell by the stone base that it's an original structure. Lilly went up and knocked on the door. There was no answer thank God.

We had a picnic lunch sitting right on the ground. Ella watched Lilly play while taking over my water bottle.

There was a large playground. Lilly was so excited!

She wasn't sure what to do with these gliding handles but she did attempt it once on her own and fell to the ground. I had flashbacks of my niece Bailee falling off the monkey bars at the same age and breaking her arm. Thankfully Lilly hopped right up and let me hold her while she tried them out.

Ella loves swinging! Lilly spent some time pushing her in the swing. It is so cute when they play together. They were both squealing and giggling.

After lunch and some time on the playground we headed out for our hike. The gardens are amazing.

Lilly was especially excited to be on a real hike!

It was absolutely beautiful. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was a bit leery of doing this on my own. I am used to Andy being in charge on hikes. When we were dating we often went into Philly and went on long hikes. I loved how he'd take charge and lead us on so many outdoor adventures. We would hike, talk, smooch, and hike some more. Yesterday it was just me and the girls...

Early on we came upon some large pieces of wood that were made into makeshift steps. I had a hard time maneuvering the stroller over them. This worried me since my stroller is exceptional and all-terrain. But we plodded onward. Mistake. The path narrowed as we began walking along the water. It was really gorgeous and Lilly was loving it but I began having a hard time with the stroller because the path was covered in very large roots. Ella was on a bumpy ride and the all-terrain stroller was even struggling. Red flag. I kept on going.

The path started winding. I was sweating and getting a full body workout pushing the stroller over the roots. I was holding on tightly as the water was right below a little cliff. Then we came to this spot...

Notice Lilly standing with her hands on her hips? We were in this spot for quite some time. Long enough for me to start to freak out and panic. I made a couple SOS phone calls. My friend Kristen was very calming and offered to come get us or told me to ditch the stroller. The problem was the roots were so bad that the stroller wouldn't push and the ledge was steep and I was so afraid I was going to lose the stroller (with Ella in it!!!) off the side. Not to mention I was a bit worried about Lilly being on her own but she was fine. She kept saying, "It's gonna be ok Mommy. You can do it!" and I was saying, "Lilly I don't think I can get this stroller over this spot." I heaved, lifted, pushed, slid... nothing was working. I was stuck. I was really wishing Andy was with us (this never would have happened if he was there). To make a very long story short I worked it out with some prayers and a very upbeat and positive coach 3 year old. Not to mention a total trooper of a baby (seen here mid "Ma Ma").

After I finally got the stroller past the very stubborn section the roots got out of control so I took Ella out and carried her while pushing the stroller. Lilly came over and held my hand. She said, "Mama, I am here, don't be faired. You were very frave. I love you" and with that I was happy and calm as we walked back to the car and headed home.

On the way home I said, "Lilly, did you have fun hiking!?" and she said, "No." I knew that she did because she kept saying how great it was while we were there. So I asked, "Why not?" and she said, "I fought you were going to fall in the water." I love that kid.

We plan to return on Sunday with Daddy. I can't wait.