Mother’s Day + Rippington’s Review

Happy Mother’s Day!

I’ve decided not to write about Mother’s Day in general—many words have been written already about it, and to add my own to the blogosphere seems self-centered.

Love your mothers.

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Rippington’s Restaurant Review

My mother’s day included an early dinner at Rippington’s Restaurant. Found in a century-old building on the historic Main Street in Waxhaw, NC, this is a sophisticated fine dining establishment.

Notice the reflection of the water tower in the window. That’s Waxhaw, all right. =)

I’d like to note that I was wearing some heels that made me almost as tall as Mom—I’m not  there yet, you know!

What’s better than being a mom? Being a grandmother! Us three made for a great girls’ time out.

symbolic of Alisha, Calvin, Peter, Ray, and Autumn (left to right)

The atmosphere is lovely. High curtains, eccentrically patterned walls, and fine art add character. We sat in front of the window, near the front – I love the natural light flooding the place! In the evening, however, lights are dim and a candle is lit at every table.

I know what you want to know about… There are two reasons for visiting a restaurant—to spend time with people, and for the food!

First: the complementary crusty bread, served with oil and vinegar.

I had my first taste of sweet balsamic vinegar at Rippington’s—I’ve been enamored ever since!

My main dish: mixed greens salad with berry vinaigrette.

$6.75 – baby greens, spiced pecans, crumbled gorgonzola, diced tomato, shredded carrots, and a few slices of crunchy cucumber with a berry vinaigrette

This is a delicious, perfectly-portioned salad. The pecans and gorgonzola are of very high quality, making every bite a balance of crunchy and mellow (the nut) and creamy and tangy (the cheese). However, the tomatoes were not the ripest, as expected in early May.

Another option: pecan-encrusted tilapia with summer squash and yellow rice.

This my grandmother ordered. The tilapia, I must admit, was amazing. I also sampled the squash. It was tasty, but I think the tilapia is truly the star of this entree. The rice, to me, is just for color—I’m not a fan of rice that isn’t sticky.

Dessert: mocha, chocolate, vanilla ice cream “cake.”

Oh, yes we did. It was covered in a light mocha-flavored substance and chocolate sauce. 

Rippington’s also offers a fine selection of wines – not that I tried them!

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The beach: old traditions, new adventures

It’s a family tradition to go to Myrtle Beach for spring break. This was our sixth time.
In the past we have always taken an RV and tents to either Myrtle Beach state park or Huntington Beach state park. This year we stayed at Springmaid Beach Resort because it was simply not feasible to take five children, including 14-month-old Autumn, camping – even with a super-fancy RV.

That worked out all right; since we were right next to Myrtle Beach state park, we got to enjoy their less-crowded seashore and their pier gift shop’s ice cream, and we could ride our bikes on the nature trails and campground roads. (And on Friday, we spent all afternoon at Huntington Beach state park!)

Days two through five—Monday through Thursday—consisted of pretty much the same activities—Mom and I walking and running on the seashore; the boys and Dad digging holes in the sand; swimming in or lounging by the pools, both indoor and outdoor.

On Monday evening my family went to the pier restaurant. They all ordered hamburgers and hotdogs; I brought some of my own food from the hotel refrigerator. It’s a pain, but my good health is worth it to me. (Also, I’ve never been a big fan of burgers and dogs.)

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In the pictures above, Autumn wasn’t really drinking soda, just water—she learned how to drink with a straw!

On Tuesday we went to Piggly Wiggly—it was very over-priced, but I still bought a lot of food, including spinach and bananas (weekly staples), strawberry jam (imported from France), made-in-store organic peanut butter, baba ghanoush (first time – yum!!), goat cheese with tomato and basil, Ezekiel tortillas, Cameo apples, Mary’s Gone Caraway crackers (another first) – the list goes on. Basically, food to eat at the beach… and to take home!

My dad wanted a t-shirt from this unique grocery store… “I dig the pig.”

More to come!

How to take 5 monkeys on a vacation

Three hours to Myrtle Beach, SC was no small feat! Fortunately my dad plans thoroughly. This is how my parents bring 5 monkeys kids to the beach:

1. Drive two vehicles to break them up.
2. Make sure to have lots of things to keep them busy such as: milk bottles, books, little brothers to annoy and pillows.
3. Promise them Domino’s pizza.

This was pretty much Sunday afternoon’s proceedings. We made it to Springmaid Beach Resort at Myrtle Beach, SC all right. We got pizza and then went swimming at an indoor pool at the hotel.

PS: I didn’t eat the pizza.

DAY ONE OF MYRTLE BEACH.

A distorted view of Easter?

Time for some blogging!

I get caught up in experiencing life, and then reading other people’s blogs and commenting… sometimes I forget that I have a blog of my own to update!

He is Risen!

One week ago was Easter Sunday—our family does an Easter egg hunt after church:

As you can see, Peter (the tallest redhead, 10 years old) is very interested in finding candy-filled eggs! (In the picture on the left, he’s jumping to reach it.)Calvin and Ray search a little less energetically – Ray (on the left) complained rightfully so that Peter took all the eggs, but they still have fun with it. Each boy is only allowed to find a certain number, and then that’s it.

Easter is not all about eggs and candy, though—far from it. In fact, the egg and rabbit icons associated with Easter are pagan symbols, not Christian ones, and even the name Easter comes from pagan roots. However, that is not what we celebrate or think of when we talk about Easter; we rejoice in Christ’s death and resurrection for our sins.

(It’s OK that I’m posting this very late because we always want to remember this!)

Check out these articles to learn more:

• Is Easter PAGAN?
• The pagan roots of Easter
• Easter is not a pagan holiday

How do you celebrate Easter? What does it mean to you?
What do you think regarding the pagan parallels to the Christian celebration?

Myrtle Beach

Right after this (and lunch), we finished packing up and in two vehicles headed out to Myrtle Beach. That will be in a separate post.

Pray for China!

My free wristband from Voice of the Martyrs arrived! Request one of your own.

Voice of the Martyrs, founded in 1967, is a non-profit, inter-denominational Christian organization dedicated to assisting the persecuted church worldwide. Read more…

This is a constant reminder of my missions trip to Taiyuan City, China and the reason behind it all.

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