Winterthur.

I can't believe that it's almost been a week since Lauren and I went to camp. We had a fantastic time and have been spending the last few days recuperating from our adventures. I'm still going through the photos from camp and hope to have those posted soon, but in the meantime, I still need to wrap up this year's vacation photos.

So this year's stop in the Brandywine Valley was Winterthur. Along with Longwood Gardens, Winterthur is yet another du Pont Family estate opened to the public. The mansion turned museum boasts 175 rooms, and the surrounding grounds were carefully planned and cultivated by Henry Francis DuPont. You can read more about it here.

 


See how tiny Lauren looks next to it? I had to hike up a hill to get this shot, and I still could only fit a small part of the house into the frame! The window with the balcony was the du Pont's master bedroom.

 

One of Lauren's favorite spots was the Enchanted Gardens, a place just for kids to enjoy. It had many stepping stones that you could follow...

 

 



...and words of wisdom...



...and a fairy ring...

 

...and a witch's cottage...

 

...and a giant bird's nest!

 

Surrounding the Enchanted forest were some extremely old trees, which Mark really enjoyed. Now he knows how I feel when I stand next to him.





Here's Mark and Lauren standing next to a particularly special Delaware sycamore tree.

 

Nearby to the Enchanted Woods was this huge sundial.



But Lauren's absolute favorite spot was the grotto. It had a two tier pond filled with huge koi that would swim up and allow you to pet them on the head.



See what I mean? I'd like to teach our fish how to do that!

And that finally concludes our 2012 vacation! I can't wait to share our camp experience, which includes evidence of me riding a horse. How's that for a hook?