Livin' the Dream in CA: Part IV "Wine!"

Ahhhhhhh, the grape.  After the wedding, Phil and I set out on our own for a couple of days to have some adventures.  We kept with our theme of fun yet relaxed and headed out to Lodi, CA to go wine tasting.  It was great to have some time for just the two of us to do whatever we wanted to when we wanted to.  Again, let me emphasize that we DO love our children...it was just a nice and needed change of pace for a little bit. 

We had been to Lodi once before when we were first married and living in CA.  We loved its quaintness and the fact that it's much quieter than Napa/Sonoma, so we decided to revisit.

We started out at Jessie's Grove, a place we had visited last time.

We spent some time in town and ended up at this cheese store called Cheese Central.  One of the best places on Earth, as far as I'm concerned.  The lady in there was so nice and let us try ANYTHING we wanted and made great recommendations.  We tried a lot of great cheeses and walked out with two cheeses, some prosciutto, and some crackers. 

We took our little snack to our final vineyard of choice, Borra Vineyards.  This ended up being one of the highlights of our trip.

We met Dave, the tasting room manager, and he let us pull some chairs right up to the counter and spread out our snack as we tasted their wines.  Their wines were phenomenal!  We chatted with Dave for quite a while - he was a hoot!  He may or may not have also given us a few extra pours  :)  It was the best time we have ever had wine tasting.  We bought two bottles to take home with us, and then Dave gifted us with a bottle of Intuition - their newest wine that hadn't even been released yet.

Outside the tasting room at Borra, there is a GIANT vine that has been growing there for over a hundred years.  It grows out over a trellis and is super impressive.

Tell me these don't look like senior photos...

This picture probably makes me look like I love the vine more than I actually do...

Would have been a great place to sit if it weren't a million degrees outside.  Oh well, we'll go inside and drink wine instead :)

Amazing how many grapes this vine still produces.

Still to come...hiking at Muir Woods!  What a great trip!

Livin' the Dream in CA: Part III "Beach Bonanza"

More coming to you from Northern California!  We had some great times on the beach.  Many of these photos need no explanation, just pretty things for you to look at.  Our weather was great, as you can see.

I love this picture.  We actually ended up walking around to the other side of the lighthouse and then hiking down that hill to get down to the beach...it's a lot less treacherous than it looks here.

I loved this sign.  How funny would it be to put one of these in the front yard with destinations like "Trader Joe's - 2.4 mi."  or "Work - 3.2 mi."

Phil doing a little Indiana Jones action with the seaweed.

"Everything the light touches is our kingdom."

We found a few of these cute little crabs.  Honestly, the one in this picture was actually dead, but we did find a live one just a little ways away.

Sisters!

Love it.

Brother and Sister!  Ready to play some football.

That's what I'm talking about.

The water was a little cold.  Just ask Matty.

Lovin' life.

Livin' the Dream in CA: Part II "The Wedding"

Photos do not do this wedding justice!  The venue was so beautiful and it was awesome to see Lauren and her new husband, Santosh, so happy on their day.  Not only was it beautiful, but it was super fun, too.  Here are some highlights...

The bride and groom with Lauren's bridesmaids.  Her dress was so elegant - what a beauty!

During the reception, Lauren changed into a beautiful sari.  There were a few other Indian traditions that were part of the evening that were cool to learn about.  It also made for a beautiful sea of color when you looked into the crowd of wedding guests.

A couple of great family shots! 

Livin' the dream.

At the reception getting ready to party.  

Jessie, Shawna, Grace, Me

I have one question for you:  When is a photo booth NOT a completely awesome idea?!?!  Yes, we are easily entertained.

How ridiculous is my brother?

Not to mention my sister?

Ok, this was supposed to be our "serious face" shot.  Instead, I think we all just look miserable.

I'll leave you with these two, just to prove that we can be normal.

Livin' the Dream in CA: Part I "Pre Wedding"

My cousin Lauren got married in Half Moon Bay, California, on July 21.  Phil and I attended the wedding and then decided to make it into a little trip for the two of us.  Grandpa and Grandma Swenson came out to be with the kids at our house and we were so thankful - the kids had so much fun!  Phil and I had a wonderful time, spending the beginning of the trip with family and then spending the last part by ourselves.  It was a much needed retreat!

For the first three nights, we stayed in a beach house that Jessie found - it was brilliant!  Perfect for our fam and very close to the beach and the wedding venue.

Matty and Dad check the balcony to make sure it is safe for everyone.

There were some tense moments...

There are some good sports in this photo, I tell ya.  I made them patiently (or not-so-patiently) wait to dig into a yummy dinner just so I could take this picture of all of us.  Worth it, right???

Thursday night dinner - cooked at the house.

 We were included in the rehearsal dinner, which was at a restaurant right on the water with a beautiful view.  It was great to see some cousins, aunts, and uncles.  I love my children, but it was wonderful to be able to just sit and have real conversations with these people.

Here I am with the very beautiful and very soon-to-be bride.  Lauren is older than me by just four months, so we have a lot of cousin history.  I heart her.

 

 

 Speaking of cousin history...here are two more of my favs.

Claire, Shawna, Me

 

The brother and sisters!

 

Much more fun to be had on this trip...more posts coming very soon!

Messy Monday - #3

I know, I know...I'm way behind in blogging.  I figured I should at least put up the photos from Messy Monday (two weeks ago now!) before we go for round four tomorrow.  Still to come are posts from our trip (sans kids!) to California and other random fun.

Ok, so two weeks ago we had bubble bonanza!  Adam loves bubbles, so I took him out of school so he could come and it was a fantastic decision.  He really enjoyed it and so did Clara.

Here are some of the kids and mamas gathered around the pans of bubbles.  Carolyn had lots of tools that were very easy for Adam to maneuver so he was able to blow lots of bubbles.

I didn't get any great photos of this, but Carolyn made these really cool bubble blowers that made bubble snakes.  The kids were a big fan.  Here is Adam with his, but you can't really see the magic in this picture.  Carolyn cut the tops off of plastic bottles and stretched fabric netting over the hole in the bottom.  You blow into the regular mouthpiece of the bottle and your bubble snake forms.

Clara decided she would have much more fun if she sat in the bubbles.  Look at her mimic the other kids with her bubble wand.  She may or may not have consumed a good amount of bubble mix at this event.

Messy Monday - #2

Just another Messy Monday!  Adam was at school during this one, although I have been thinking of taking him out of school on Mondays to come be messy with his friends.  I mean, hey, summer is for fun, right? 

This week, it was pudding body painting. 

Before the mess, Clara was fired up and ready to roll!

 Thanks for the ride, Hannah!

 Clara was not nearly as enthusiastic about this mess.  I guess shaving cream is more her style.

 Her little buddy was pretty into it, though.  Cute, eh?

 Then, the kids thought this would be a good idea.  There may or may not have also been a pudding slide.

Another Cook in the Kitchen

 Adam has been expanding his culinary skills - learning how to read the recipe and measure the ingredients.  He also expertly operates both the mixer and the food processor.

Clara can't wait to be able to get in there and help, so she's been practicing in her play kitchen.  She wears her oven mitt (backwards) around the house and has been cooking up some real masterpieces.

"Don't worry guys, I've got this."