Queen Creek Olive Mill

John had Monday, July 5th as a holiday since the 4th was on a Sunday this year. We took the day to spend it with the kids and took a trip to the Queen Creek Olive Mill. Sophie and I have been there a couple times with some of my extended family when they were here to visit earlier this year, but John and Zoe hadn't been.

It is a pretty interesting place about 30 minutes from our house in Queen Creek, AZ. They have an olive orchard with some of their youngest trees on-site. The olive oil they sell comes from their much larger orchard that is about a mile away. It is a great place to see how olive oil is made. They have a wide variety of products for purchase including a vanilla bean olive oil, chocolate olive oil, chili olive oil and roasted garlic olive oil. That is just a sample. I bought the garlic olive oil several months ago and loved cooking with it. They also sell olives of course as well as many types of tapenades.

The restaurant on-site sells some really good food. Because it was so warm on Monday we ate inside but in the cooler months it is great to sit outside at a table in the orchard. Zoe eyed the gelato when we first walked in, so it took a little coaxing to get her to finish the PB&J I had brought for her. After lunch and walking around a bit, she asked for ice cream. We took her to the counter and offered her a sample of the strawberry cream gelato. She wouldn't even taste it and pointed at the chocolate and says "that one". Well, what can I say -- she loves chocolate. Thankfully she hasn't learned to ask for it at home, yet. So we decided to let her have her own small cone and not worry about the mess. Good thing -- because she was a mess. It required a trip to the bathroom, removing the clothes, a complete wipe down and a new set of clothes. No big deal, she had a great time and doesn't get treats like this very often.

John even decided to let Sophie have a taste of ours. Unlike her sister at this age she already loves ice cream. Zoe wouldn't eat ice cream until nearly two because she thought it was too cold. She also didn't taste it for the first time until after one.

The olive mill has a small garden in which they grow vegetables that they use in the restaurant. They also have some of the biggest sunflowers I have ever seen.
 

Garden at the Olive Mill

A few of the giant sunflowers on the property

We had a great trip and time with the kids. John and I almost felt like it was a mini-vacation.

4th of July and Family Fun

Sisterly love

We had a great 4th of July holiday. We spent the morning at church and running a few errands with the girls. After naps we headed to my sister-in-laws (Alisha) birthday celebration at her moms house. We had a great time with family and Zoe loved playing hide and seek with all the cousins. Happy Birthday Alisha!

After the party we headed home to put Sophie to bed. We let Zoe stay up to watch fire works for the first time. A church less than 2 miles from the house was having a fireworks show so we  were able to sit in comfort of our own backyard and watch them. They started about 8:30pm and lasted till 9pm. Zoe was really not too sure about them. She was scared of the loud noises so she sat in our laps the entire time but she did enjoy watching them by the end. After they were over it was off to bed for her, about and hour and half later than normal. She did great.

The 4th is also John's dads birthday. We didn't get to celebrate with him since he lives in New Hampshire but John did wish him a happy birthday on the phone. Happy Birthday dad!

It was a great day to reflect on how great our country is and how blessed we are to have our worldly freedoms living in the United States as well as spiritual freedom in Christ. Even with all the political issues in our country we still are very blessed and I am so thankful for that. I thank my dad (Army), Uncle Mike (Marines), grandpa Crowley (Army), and my grandpa Brusch (Navy)  for serving our country. And for all the other men and women who have served and are serving our country we are indebted to you. Thank you!

Happy Birthday to us as a country!

Zoe

Sophia