Last week we took a family vacation with Mimi, Grandaddy and Uncle John to Napa Valley. We rented the most amazing house in St. Helena and roamed the valley tasting wine, eating out and enjoying the 4th of July. It was nice to be "unconnected" from reality and work for 7 days.
The boys did so much wine tasting while us girls did some shopping, playing in water fountains and went swimming. Below is a picture of Mimi and Hadley in Yountville, the most adorable little town with the fanciest little restaurants, wedding venues and cafes. We spent that afternoon eating lunch at Oakville Grocery while Hadley chased birds.
Meanwhile the boys drank until the bottles were empty. Their teeth were purple, eyes were half open and they were happy by the end of the day. Thank goodness we packed them the ultimate picnic basket full to the top of food, sandwiches and goodies. Us girls, met them at the end of the day at Rombauer Winery for snacks and wine. Hadley enjoyed putting princess stickers on the cow display, which was a great distraction.
The weather was quiet warm during the week so we went to St. Helena High School pool in the afternoon for a little swimming. Of course H thought it was probably the best thing all week and finally jumped off the side of the pool for the first time. Too bad the diving board was closed the afternoons we went because mommy really wanted to relive her childhood and jump off.
Friday night, Big B made reservations at Farmstead right there in St. Helena for dinner, for all six of us! Yikes, mommy was dreading having to chase Hadley around the restaurant. Buuuuut...drum roll, she did AMAZING! Thankfully the restaurant had horse shoes, a tractor for kids to play on, garden which she picked strawberries and a wedding going on that H kept asking "What is it?" Not only that, but the food and drinks were delicious and the atmosphere was so rustic and fun.
Of course during our trip to St. Helena we had to do a little reminiscing as our 5 year anniversary is this fall. Mason and I got married in St. Helena at Grace Episcopal Church in 2010. We wanted to take H to the church we got married at, but when we kept telling her "this is a church," she was expecting snacks and a playground like we have at our church at home. Later this trip, my dad brought Mason and I back to the church to give me my Grandmother's wedding band from 1940 that she wanted me to have after she passed away. It was a special moment, especially at the location we were married years prior.
And then it was 4th of July...I had a slew of red, white and blue outfits to wear in just one day! We went to the cutest little hometown 4th of July parade in Calistoga with horses, firetrucks, fancy cars and candy. H loved the floats with bubbles and music as she chased them out on the parade route. Hadley got all decked out in accessories that both my mom and I brought. Of course H wanted to wear all of them at the same time. Later that afternoon we went back to Farmstead, because it was walking distance from our house. We got cocktails and appetizers before grilling out that evening.
After a lovely 7 days, it was time to go back to reality, work, and sleep in our own bed. Until the next family vacation...it was one to remember. I'll do my best to get back on Blogger more and post more, but it's just been a busy summer. See y'all soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment