Tag Archives: family

California Adventure

As promised, here is a recap of the exciting adventures I enjoyed with Paul & Craig in California last month.

Paul took time off work to show me around… in his ‘baby’. She was a very comfortable ride 🙂

First stop, Armstrong Woods – a redwood forest just 3 miles up the road. Very peaceful and beautiful. Except for the two mosquitoes that dined on my arm….

A giant tree stump with markers showing it’s age – was around long before the Aztecs in 1300.

We stopped at the beach (it was a bit chilly)…

And saw beautiful wildflowers on the hillside…

Paused to marvel at the misty trees

We stopped in Bodega Bay to get up close and personal with stars of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Tippy Hedron wasn’t there that day to sign autographs, but someone recorded her July 4th visit. Enjoy.

Drove past many vineyards (it was Sonoma County, after all).   Sometimes I wish I liked wine.

We stopped by Powell’s Sweet Shop in Windsor where Craig gave me run of the candy store – anything I wanted. I highly recommend the Amaretto Truffles.

Sometimes I wish I didn’t like chocolate.

I was well fed.

Very well fed.

I gained over 5 lbs, but it was worth it.

Paul fixed several gourmet meals. My offering was a turkey havarti sandwich on sourdough (delicious, but not gourmet!).

And Craig treated me to the best ribs I’ve ever had. I also loved sharing in the traditional Sunday cheese/cracker and prociutto lunch. Yum.

We played a little Cribbage.

Craig and I tortured Paul by making him sit through the entire movie Avatar. We all agreed we want our gardens to glow like that at night.

Paul (the best blogger ever) worked on his blog.

We planted a few flowers, watched a little Design Star and RuPaul’s Drag Race, and all in all had a lovely time.

Thanks, guys, for being such gracious and entertaining hosts. It was so fun to spend time with you! Now, when are you coming to the northwest?

Tulips 2010

I’ve been such a slacker. I’ve taken tons of photos and have lots of things I could be writing about but I just haven’t. No excuses. Just haven’t done it.

No promises, but I will try to rectify that – starting with this entry about a wonderful visit from Ashley & Kennedy in April.

Since their flight arrived at 7pm, our first stop was dinner at Machiavelli’s, where Kennedy ate a huge plate of pasta..

The next day, Kristin joined us as we made the short trek to Mt. Vernon for the tulip festival.

The tulips were beautiful, as usual, but it the weather wasn’t. We faced what felt like freezing cold gale force winds.

Kennedy tried to be brave.

She managed a smile while cuddling with mom.


More soon. Or at least sometime…

Halloween

Cute spider cakeI know I’m a little late – but here is how I spent my Halloween.

Traveled to Salt Lake on Thursday, where I indulged in 1/2 of a Judge Brownie, a Chicken Tostada Salad at Cafe Rio, and made a Halloween cake with Ashley.

Turned out cute, didn’t it?

Friday afternoon we headed to my mom’s “cabin” near Fairview, UT to spend the next 24 hours with my mom & Bart, and my kids/their families. The cabin is actually a very beautiful and spacious log home built almost entirely by Bart. He’s a manly man.

I think my entire condo would probably fit in the upstairs loft. It’s really lovely. And my mom had decorated the loft so cute for the party.

White tailed deer in the grassWe saw several of these deer. They’re beautiful animals, but we’re not happy that they devour every plant my mother tries to grow (except the lavender).

After the mandatory family photo shoot (those pics will be in another post) we got into costume and started the party.

Witches Grandma Alli and Marie

Granda Rene Witch
Three of us were witches, but my mother costume was, by far, the best. The teeth made her talk funny 🙂
Kennedy vants to suck your blood

Kennedy was a vampiress.

Emily was the Little Mermaid… here, wrapped as a mummy by her Japanese dad.

Mummy wrapping

The “mummy wrapping” contest was the big hit of the night. Each team had to wrap each other fully and quickly.

Emily and Brandon won – but Marie & Jennifer, Kennedy & Bart made valiant effort.

Mummy wrappingKennedy & Bart

After a game of pumpkin bowling, costume parade, dancing to the Monster Mash, and distribution of prizes, we were ready for cake. But first, a group picture.

One batty family

Room on the BroomAfter cake, it was story time. I read the girls a really cute book called Room on the Broom. Then we tucked the girls in their sleeping bags for the night…

Next morning we were greeted with a wonderful hot breakfast. The guys did guy stuff (I don’t know what it was) but the girls decorated pumpkins with felt eyes, noses and mouths that Ashley and I had created, and the women crafted decorations out of wood, glitter glue, paint and glass beads.

Crazy pumpkins

Then it was back to Salt Lake for trick or treating!

How did you spend your Halloween?