Day Three: Must Detox

So on day 3, Mama needed a break from the vino.

Apparently, I am NOT a wino.

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I like wine and I find this hobby very interesting and appealing, but after 13,678 cabs, merlots, blends, chardonnays, zins, they ALL taste the same. I'm sorry. I said it. I don't taste the layers of tobacco, vanilla, cherry, and blackberries that have been aged for 5 years in a medium toast French oak barrel. I never did and I don't know if my palette will ever be sensitive enough to be an expert. It sure is fun trying to figure it all out though! And we can swirl with the best of the winos.

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We decided to give our taste buds and brain cells a little break today...we took a drive down to Muir Woods in San Fran to see the Redwoods. This was Kev's first time to experience these giants and he was super excited!

It was CCCCOLD!!!

No, I was not appropriately dressed.

This sucker was huuuuuuge!

And this isn't the biggest one out there...

Yep, that's me, the teeny

weeny white speck at the bottom...

Kev and I had a moment in the forest...

God is BIG. No. Bigger.

And this is Uma Thurman's backside...seriously.This is a nice cowardly shot I took but she was moving too fast and acting too inconspicuous for me to react. Heck yes, I would have stopped her...she was tall, beautiful, and sporting cute pearls over her hiking gear. The pearls made me look twice. Not so inconspicuous, Uma. They totally gave her away.

Then back to Napa, where the smell of grapes was thick in the air!



This is the machine-equivalent to stomping grapes... It's no "Walk in the Clouds".
The romance of grape stomping is gone.


Speaking of romance...


...back to V. Sattui for a picnic out on the lawn.

These desserts were perty good.


So was the wine...I know, I know.
My stomach was not happy about this decision but it's Napa.

After lunch, we visited our new friend from dinner the night before at the Frank Family Vineyards, then on to Sonoma for some shopping.
We listened to some classical musical at Kev's suggestion thinking that it would help restore the brain cells we killed all weekend. We tried to fit in a little bit each day in the car. I think it helped.


I love my honey and our weekend alone was incredible! We are so ready to get home, though, and love on our kiddos. We are refreshed and ready to pour into those cute little souls again.

M W A H!

...back to reality we gladly go!

Day 2...L.A. in Napa

Day 2 of our get-a-way was full, long, and wonderful.

We started off with a tour at the giant wine maker, Beringer...

do you SEE what time tastings start around here???

This winery was 1 of about 4 that survived the prohibition. "How did they survive?" you ask...they were the official supplier of wine to the Catholic church.

And that's about as religious as this place gets;)

Kevin serving up the breakfast of champions!

It was pretty early...weird but nice.

Tim, our tour guide, taking us out to the vineyards...
we sipped on 3 or 4 different wines as walked the grounds and learned about wine.

Then he took us into the tunnels, where they used to store the goods.

We sat around the table in the caves and learned so much...

Getting wine straight out of the barrel...that barrel costs a minimum of $1000!

We may be in the wrong business...

Leaving the caves, a little lady took our pic
so we could have a pic together that's not just arm's length away.
Thank you little lady.

So, we saw the movie "Bottle Shock" and were mildly entertained.
It definitely peaked our interest in the history of the wine country so...


...we visited the famous Chateau Montelena.

The barrels aren't pretty but it's CRUSH time...
most of the vineyards are harvesting their grapes now.
This is the winery that put Napa on the map when,
for the first time ever, an American wine beat the French wines
in what was called "The Judgement of Paris".

It was cool to see the place after watching the movie

but the experience was entirely underwhelming.

Then on to Francis Ford Coppola's place...

I was so excited to revisit this place since last time

we were here it was SO gorgeous but closed!...


and then we pull up and see this...what??

COMPLETELY under construction and the tastings

were being done in the back...in the garage.


As you can see, parts of it were still B-E-A-utiful.

do you see the tiny gold statues?

A closer view of his Oscars...

We ended up having a fun time at Coppola's place afterall.

Isn't it funny how good wine makes things better:)

Then it was dinner at Mustard's Grill, where we ended up sharing a meal and great conversation with a manager of a boutique winery in Napa and

a sweet Christian couple from Atlanta who looked real familiar.

(Were they in "Fire Proof"??

We will see when get home and watch the movie again;))

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Stay-at-home Mommy of 3 little ones away on vacay trying to recover

+

wine...allllll day...and I mean alllll day

=

a gooooooood night's sleep!

And one more day to go...

Our Get-A-Way

We are winos
We are foodies.

We are in Napa.

(and cue angels singing)

We are in heaven!

We visited Napa almost two years ago (see pics from that trip here) and fell in love with the whole experience. After Lainey's tough summer, Mom and Dad are in need of some rest and FUN! We thought as we prepare for RSV/Flu season, we should get away while she's well and take time to just be with each other. Our moms and sisters have made this possible for us and we are SO grateful. We owe them BIG time!!! Really, what a gift they have given us.

Yes, Lainey (and Nat) needed some fun too so they got it! I'll post pics about their fun later;)

So, day one started off with one hour of sleep and a 6:30 a.m. departure flight. Three flights and two planes later (it was a beating but hey, they are FREE) we arrive in CA before 11 a.m. (STILL!).

We had a great first (half) day and even had an "experience" on the first day...you know, those little unexpected finds you come across that totally make your trip memorable. Wait! We had TWO of those! Ahhhhhh...and still two full days to go.

My mom and dad had an experience here many, many years ago.

So we had to check it out, for sentimental reasons:)

My big, fancy camera stinks!

Ok, I think I'm a little out of practice and no editing software on Kev's computer so bear with me!

It's all still so beautiful...

It's harvest time in Napa right now, a lot of the grapes are still full on the vine.

Until Swiper swipes them!

...Swiper, nooo swiping!

(yes, we do miss the kids;))

..and now I'm singing Dora...

Here we are blissful and about to be surprised by our next find...

Experience Number One...

There was a wedding about to start and it was picture perfect.

I didn't get a pic of that but here is part of the winery where the wedding was taking place.

Then on to our next experience.

A locals fav that a guy on the plane told us about...
now one of my favorites!

Again, my camera st...ok, III... stink at using my camera but the colors and decor were so charming...kind of vintage black and white mixed with bright fun colors and flowers.

Yeah, you really can't tell at all from this pic what I'm talking about...
oh well, my brain took a picture;)

Now on to DAY TWO...beautiful blue skies and a high of 78 awaits us:)

Bedtime Stories

Bedtime is so sweet in our house.

After donning their princess pjs or oversized t-shirts, the girls climb into our big bed and snuggle down, ready for their nighttime playlist. They each get to pick two songs and Mommy and Daddy proceed to channel everyone from Darlene to Dorothy.

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For some reason Lainey always holds us accountable when we are singing Dorothy...holding Daddy accountable is really the story here and I so wish I had a video to put right here!! Kev will start off in his regular voice, sounding quite manly. As manly as a man can sound while singing, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Lainey will stop him after the first line shouting, "Daddy sing it like Dorothy!" On command, Daddy will switch to his hilariously charming falsetto and sing the rest of the song like a prepubescent choir boy.

Sometimes I will be in the kitchen getting their milk and I will hear him start the song...I pause... wait for it...ahhhh, there it is. Kevin going into the stratosphere.

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I smile. I do love our nights as a family.

Other top songs on the girls' nighttime playlist includes:

*1) Somewhere Out There

*2) "The deer song" (As The Deer)

*3) I Love You Lord

*4) Tear Down the Walls

*5) We Exalt Thee (which always prompts Lainey to ask, "What does 'exalted' mean?" She's asked so many times, it's a game now, and she will answer herself, "LIFTED UP!" as she raises her arms up over her cute little curly head.)

We end our concert with "The Lord's Prayer" and a prayer over each of the girls...and for Natalie's husband, of course. She's been asking us to pray for her husband for over 6 mos. She always ends with, "Let me dream about him and him about me." Not kidding. The girl's relationship with her Creator brings me tears on a regular basis.

So tonight we mixed it up and Mommy and Daddy performed the bedtime songs with "mics" on our "stage", then the girls asked to take the stage. Here's a video of the sweetness...

Goodnight Sweetheart!

(Another song sometimes on the rotation.)

Feeling Good

Look at this face.

Sweet. Oh yes. Mischievous. Not usually.

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But...

Kev walked outside to this this morning

See that nice LITTLE hole in the bush?
I'd say she took a little off the top.

And the monkey grass has been murdered...

Not much left. And a little uneven, Nat.


And this sweet angel...

Don't let her fool you.
She's feeling better today.

We get done sizing up the damage outside,
running around like banshees inside trying to get ready for a security inspection
with the local police...

At least our littlest one is contained and out of trouble...

Wait, what is that dripping out of your mouth and all over your shirt?

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Just ask Lainey, acting all non-chalant while sneaking butter...

(I wish she'd make it easy on the photog and stay in her clothes!)

"RHETT LIKES MY MEDICINE, HE SUCKED IT LIKE A STRAW!"
she says of her now empty syringe of antibiotic.

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She's at that "do it myself" stage and
we ARE teaching her to share, but really.

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She is SO our little Curious George.
Heart of gold, FULL of mischief and energy...
when she's well, of course.

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Rhett? He'll be fine.
Maybe it will make this ridiculous top tooth finally come in!

(His blankie makes everything better)

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On a side note, anytime Rhett feels anything silky,

he falls to his side like he's been tazered, thumb in mouth.

(When we're bored, we sometimes throw silky things in front of him while he's crawling. He never fails us:)

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Well, the po-po cancelled the inspection last minute.
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All this and a clean house by 8:30 this morning.
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It's gonna be a fun Friday...MWAH-HA-HA!
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And WELCOME BACK LAINEY!!




(the *** are the only way Blogger will SPACE out my sentences. And you thought it just looked pretty.)