Our First Tea

I don’t know who was more excited, Ella or me.  We were going to a Tea Party, just the two of us.  The party was being held at Infini-tea in Antioch, IL.  It was a special one in that the characters from “Beauty and the Beast” would be present after their afternoon showing at a local theater (across the street).

Here we are, all dressed up with a Tea to go to.   

What is also nice is that my brother lives in Antioch.  So we were able to spend some time with him before our party.  Our trip included a visit to Something Sweet to obtain the much talked about cashew crunch and peanut butter chocolate squares.  And Ella got to pick out some candy too.  Next time we must get some of their famous fudge!

Ella with Uncle John.

 

After a few other adventures, which may have included going to a home decor/craft store, where I may have bought a few sheets of really cool scrapbook paper which I don’t even know what I’m going to do with, we got to see the trees lit up down Main Street.

And this old building is a restaurant.  It used to be a bank.  It kind of looks like a museum.  I like the tall arched windows.

 

On to the Tea Party!  I’ve never really been to a real “Tea”.  This lovely tea… uh… place was so warm and inviting.  It was by reservation only and it just made us feel even more special.  All of the little girls were dressed much like Ella.  She was so beautiful and what a perfect time for some lovely photos of her!

Waiting with anticipation.

 

Pretending to drink tea.  I wanted a full shot of her dress.  I’m so mad this is blurry, but it is the best of the bunch.

   

Here she is drinking her Angel Falls Mist herbal tea.

And then she moved along to hot chocolate.

  

We were first served some iced water with a lemon wedge and our choice of hot beverage.  I chose the Pumpkin Spice tea and Ella chose the Angel Falls Mist herbal tea.  As you can see, later she moved on to the hot chocolate.  I moved on to the Plum Cinnamon Rooibos.  Accompanying our beverages were some small sweet breads.  The first course consisted of mini quiches and scones with real whipped cream, strawberry jam and lemon curd on the side.  Ella had the chocolate chip scone and I had the orange currant scone.  She did not like her quiche, but at least she tried it.

 

Next were finger sandwiches, ants on a log and various other goodies.  I got this photo after we ate the top layer.  Ella didn’t like the olive roll.  I happily ate the rest of hers.

Finally many petite cakes and pastries were served for dessert.

The characters from the musical arrived shortly after the start of the Tea Party and stayed through the entire time.

Ella with Beauty and the Beast characters.

 

She was SO happy to get to hug Mrs. Potts and Belle.

 

We truly had a magical time and both of us can’t wait to return!