Napa

Tyler and I have been so fortunate to be able to take some "adults only" trips this year.  We are so thankful for that.  First Puerto Rico and then - Napa!  We had been to San Francisco and Sonoma for an anniversary trip about 4 years ago - when we'd just found out we were expecting twins!  It was a fabulous trip, but, needless to say, I did not get to fully appreciate Sonoma.  So, I made Tyler try all the wine (which he did not like at the time), while I sniffed it.  Good times.

We were both able to enjoy the wine this year, in addition to beautiful weather & scenery, delicious food & quality time.  It's was super relaxing and restful - just what we needed!  The girls went to "Camp CocoPop" and had a great time.  I heard the counselors were awesome, though I am still waiting for the camp t-shirts.  ;)

One of the days we were there, we took a Platypus Tour - which I highly recommend.  The guide took us to 4 of the smaller wineries, so it wasn't as crowded & we also got to have a picnic lunch at one of them.  We had a great group on the tour & our guide was super knowledgeable.  I learned a ton.  Wine drinking?  Expected.  Learning?  Bonus!  The second day we did our own tour and took our time.

And I have to mention our B&B, which was awesome.  We stayed at the Arbor Guest House in Napa.  The owners, Dan & Candy, were so friendly & helpful.  They helped us with dinner reservations, put on an awesome happy hour both nights we were there and cooked us delicious 3 course breakfasts both mornings too.  Awesome.  Walking distance to downtown Napa, comfy beds, fireplace in the room and cookies before bedtime?  Yes, please.

We finally tried one!  "Better than 5 Guys" raves Tyler.

Enjoying his wine flight in downtown Napa

Double fisting it at our first stop.  Casa Nuestra.

Barrel tasting! 

Our spread at Paoletti.  Funny guy. 

"Catacombs" under Paoletti.  He also had busts of famous people all along the walls.

Tyler's favorite bust. :)

Where we ate our picnic lunch

Paoletti.  He also owns a restaurant in Brentwood (CA).  Fancy.

Mmm...grapes.

Arger-Martucci.  Recommended by our lovely neighbors.  Great wines!

Frog's Leap.  BEAUTIFUL.  Also a working farm

Frog's Leap

Rocking chairs we never wanted to leave.

Wine goggles?  Ha.

Our dream home.  In the form of a winery.  Frog's Leap.

Driving back to the airport!

Puerto Rico

Oh, Puerto Rico.  Will you be mine?  Tyler and I were able to take an "adults only" vacation here and fell in love with it.  Thanks, Khaki & Ben, for letting us tag along on your 10th Anniversary trip and BIG thanks too, to Mimi & Grandbob, for taking such good care of our little squirts while we were away!

This was the longest both Tyler and I had both been away from the girls, and apart from crying a little bit when the plane took-off, Tyler handled it very well.  Hmm?  It was me who cried when we took off?  Oh, right.  Maybe it was.  And then I watched a movie about rescuing whales.  Were they TRYING to make me have an emotional breakdown? 

Moving on.

We stayed in an apartment in Old San Juan that was quite lovely - minus the air conditioner that did not work in 2 of the 3 bedrooms.  Tyler and I ended up in the one room that did have it.  Khaki and Ben?  We owe you. 

San Juan is beautiful and charming and relaxing and I would go back yesterday.  We visited the birthplace of the Pina Colada.  We ate mofongos & empanadas.  We toured the Bacardi factory.  We had delicious fish tacos from Jersey Mike's place.  We visited the Old Fort.  And at the Old Fort?  We sweated.  We sweated much.  But boy was it awesome and beautiful.  We laughed.  We had awesome travel companions.  Mostly, we just relaxed and enjoyed.

And we missed our girls.  But we are so thankful we were able to take this trip! 

First Day.  First Pina Colada.  Not our last.  :)

Old San Juan

Ahhhhh

Enjoying one of our free drinks at the Bacardi factory

Tyler getting all artsy with the camera.

Giggity. This just makes me laugh.  And it's a great picture of Caty.

I want to go to there.  Again.

Waiting for dinner.  And by waiting, I do mean W-A-I-T-I-N-G.  The scenery helped.

Fort!

 

More fort

View from our balcony.  That's Ben driving down the road in our awesome Jeep rental. 

So much fun.

Hello Sunshine!

We took our annual trip to the beach a few weeks ago with my family and had a lovely time!  We had some quality time with Mimi, Grandbob, Uncle P & Mallory, some tasty seafood, lovely weather and of course, Pina Coladas (made with love by Uncle P).  :)

I am so excited to report that BOTH girls loved the sand this year.  I was hoping Kate would outgrow her tactile issues with it and she definitely did!  She had fun being "buried" in the sand by Daddy and playing with him in the waves.  I hung out with Elle, who played and dug in the sand most of the time, as she was not cool with all the seaweed that had washed up because of a big storm.  

The pool was a big draw too, though it was COOOOLD.  Again, didn't bother the girls one bit!  Daddy was the biggest chicken about getting in.  :) 

Unfortunately, Elle was sick most of the time we were there, but she so tried to be a trooper.  You know your toddler doesn't feel well though when she just lies on the couch without moving and watches 47.2 straight hours of Dora.  But she managed to make it to the beach and the pool and in an effort to convince us that she was fine, would happily exclaim "I'm AM feeling better!" at the top of her lungs.  And then she had an "episode" that resulted in the pool bathroom looking like a scene from CSI.

Fade to black.

Kate had a grand ole time - she was ALWAYS ready to go to the pool and had a lovely time splashing around with everyone.  She was such a silly, joyful little waterbug! 

Can't wait for our next trip!  Thanks, Mimi & Grandbob!

On the road to Eufaula, AL (the halfway point) - Elle is WAY into High Five magazine.

Breakfast at the hotel.  They thought they were SUCH big girls.

Kate was so worn out, she fell asleep in my arms at dinner.  Nothing much better than sushi for dinner and a sleeping doll in your lap.  No really.  It was so sweet (and delicious).

Mother's Day!  Happy to be snuggling with my girls even though one is sick and the other looks like she just smelled something disgusting.

Elle & Grandbob

Big fan of filling up and dumping out.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

Mommy & Elle

Kate framing Daddy

So much fun.  Sand is my friend!

"Daddy made a hole for me!"

Still diggin'.

Of course Elle had to have a hole too!

Mimi & Kate

Kate & Uncle P

Bless her heart.

Please find the similarity in this picture.  :)