The hustle and bustle of NYC is mega exciting but also draining so it was perfect that our next stop was rural Delaware. Oh what a gorgeous place – so incredibly green and pretty – with rolling hills, horses in paddocks and quaint country roads. It was reminiscent of English countryside. Our week at Steph’s place was just what we needed – time to stop, reflect and meet some fabulous people. Steph is such a hospitable and inspiring woman who we have met back in Australia, as she part owns a farm near us that good friends manage, in the Rose Valley. The kids were so so excited that they actually all got their own rooms and beds to sleep in.

Some of the big kids lay in bed reading in the mornings which they haven’t been able to do for ages without being interrupted or stood on or rudely woken up.
It was warm in Delaware and

 

Steph lives in a close knit well resourced community. Just 5 mins drive away there is VicMead Hunt Club, an old Fox hunting venue turned pool, gym, tennis courts and restaurant.

We went almost every day for hours in the pool, as did all the locals and Steph’s relatives… The kids made friends with nieces, nephews and grandchildren – they’ve exchanged emails to keep the instant connection growing. We often ate at this incredible venue, Steph’s generosity once again unstoppable.

Steph has got so many wonderful family and friends and most evenings there would be at least four others sharing dinner with us. She is an incredible cook and it wasn’t really a drama cooking for even twelve others that were invited for dinner. Always very interesting company and good laughs.
The first night we arrived late (driving from New Jersey through all the turnpikes and endless toll roads) and arrived during the end of a dinner where we met Steph’s good friend Billy. Billy is an amazing man who knew a good mechanic and arranged a service for our car. Incredibly he also refused to let us pay for it. His generosity was incredible. We met his daughter and partner up from Florida and he took Sandy and the kids to the amazing Long wood gardens in Pennsylvania.

We all felt so relaxed at Steph’s house and so very rejuvenated to continue our road trip across the States. We were meant to leave a day earlier than we did so as not to rush to Houston but we simply couldn’t miss Regis 40th party which was amazing. We met Regis and Tenley who are neighbours and they were so kind to invite us to the party – a great way to finish our Delaware week before we got up at 4am for our 13hr drive to Nashville.

Thank you so so much Steph and all your family and friends for your amazing generous hospitality and friendship. You’re amazing!
By Christos and Sandy

 

 

At the moment we are staying at our friend Steph’s house. We know her because she stays at my friend Charlotte’s house every year. When I go over to Charlotte’s house I see Steph there. She lives in America so we came to visit her. It was been so fun staying with her – she has three dogs which are German shepherds. I love helping Steph with the cooking. I loved making the burgers. She has some friends over for dinner pretty much every night. We went to visit her uncle who is 95 yrs old. He has an organ which is like a double or triple piano and is a whole room.

The stuff that makes the sound is in a whole entire basement. It plays really awesome music – we got to press some buttons and make some really awesome sounds.

Billy took us to some gardens which were really really cool with tree houses and lots of gardens. I better go cause I have a party to go to. It’s Regis – the next door neighbours 40th. There will be loads of kids and there’ll be even four babysitters to look after everyone.
By Kiki

Steph has beautiful dogs. There are three dogs called Breaker, Duke and Storm. She has such a beautiful house and amazing curtains. She has very good friends and is a good card player – she taught me to play Spit. You don’t have to really spit but it’s a game called Spit.

I loved visiting the horses and I loved the bunny rabbits at her niece’s house.

Steph took us to a pool and I had to do a test to see if I could go off the diving board and go in the big water. For my test I had to swim all the way to the other end and then I had to do water treading for 1 minute then I was allowed to go to the deep water and dive off the jumping board. I loved Steph and I loved playing Spit with her and I loved going out with her and I loved having dinner with her. She’s a very good cook.
By Zoi

We had lots of dinners with Steph and her friends and relatives. Everyone has been very nice. She has a big green property with lots of trees and gardens and three German shepherds. We also went to a community pool with Steph four times and it’s been really good – we’ve met lots of her grand kids and played lots of water games. Like sharks and fishes, but in the water.

One of Steph’s good friends Billy, his daughter Meredith and her boyfriend Martin took us to a gardens with cubby houses, rivers and fountains. It was so pretty.
By YASI

 

 

 

At Steph’s place I liked the dogs – Duke, Storm and Breaker. The one who is Storm likes storms but not thunderstorms. I like playing cards with Steph – she has Spit and we bought a packet of cards so we can play. Spit is a kind of card game – you have to spit the cards but it has some different rules not like real spitting. I love the pool nearby. I love this place because it has fun stuff and there’s a bunch of toys and kids to play with. Good bye
Love from Moochie

Steph has been amazing to us and we have done lots and seen lots of stuff in Delaware. Most days we go to VicMead which has a pool and and basketball court and really great food. Steph introduced us to lots of people and now we have lots of friends around this area. There are lots of young kids around and I liked talking to lots of her friends. There’s a party tonight for her neighbour’s 40th birthday party and we are all invited. There will be over 80 kids so I’m really excited.
By Toby

After the Party…….

The day before we left Steph’s place in Delaware, we were invited to Steph’s neighbours Regis 40th birthday party. It was amazing. There was about 200 people at the party!!! Including 89 kids!!! There were so many things to do like get tattoos, play with water guns and play all the three carnival games they had on offer.

Dinner was very very good, there were lobsters, potatoes, pasta and salads. After everyone was playing together well they set off fire works and man I haven’t seen fire works in two years, but this was the biggest and best fire works I’ve ever seen!!! They set off so many and they still had another full box!!! We danced and danced – it was great fun.
See ya – from Tobes