Tea for Two

If she were the Queen of England this sort of royal treatment might be a daily occurrence, but for us commoners, it's reserved for special occasions.

Natalie and Ava don't get to see each other very often, but they are cute little friends and both have March birthdays.  Ava's mom, my good friend Michelle, suggested we take them on a birthday outing to the cutest little tea room called, The Secret Garden.

Their afternoon tea started with their own individual tea pots.  Both of the girls tried "Peppermint Tingle."  They absolutely loved pouring their tea through the pretty silver strainers, then stirred in a couple of sugar cubes with the dainty teaspoons.

Next came the scones with Devonshire cream, lemon curd and homemade jam.  Natty thought the lemon curd was especially delicious.

Before lunch could be served, the palate needed cleansing so mini goblets of sorbet were delivered to our table.  Fancy!  Heaven forbid any other flavors should taint the sophisticated peanut butter and jelly sandwich that was coming shortly.

How adorable is it that their lunches were served on these tiered dishes?

Our waitress carefully explained each of the items that were served, which Natalie thought was great.  

Here is the adult version for Michelle and me:

Cucumber, chicken salad and egg salad sandwiches.  Mini quiche, goat cheese tart and mini sausage roll.  Fresh fruit and a wide variety of sweet treats.  Everything was delicious!

And in case that wasn't enough, the waitress then brought the girls a birthday treat, too.

A hot towel service finished the meal.  Nat put the towel on her face.  Our tea manners do need some refining.

The girls poured some tea in the mini goblets and did some toasting.

They exchanged birthday gifts, too.  Ava got Natty this adorable t-shirt and some shorts.  She loves them!

The tea room is located in an old, historic house.  After browsing the gift shop, the girls posed on the staircase for a picture.

And in front of the house, too:

Their bellies were full but the girls weren't quite ready to part ways so Ava came to play at our house.  Michelle came to the house a bit later and the hours passed quickly while the girls played and we visited.

It was such a great day that when it finally all came to an end, Natty said she wanted to go back and start the whole day over again.

Would be nice, wouldn't it?  Maybe if you were the Queen of England.