Ottoman Jumping

This is the favored activity at our house these days.

Dress Up

It is amazing how young the dress-up starts when there is a big sister in the house. I often discover Adeline wearing this tutu, without any adult assistance in getting it on.

Birthday in Yountville

We hit the road early on Sunday and had brunch at our favorite bakery in Napa, Alexis Baking Company & Cafe. We sat outside and enjoyed the peace that comes with eating a meal without cutting up someone else's food first. After breakfast, we drove to Yountville and checked in to the Napa Valley Lodge. We hopped on bicycles and rode over to the Robert Sinskey Vineyards, a winery that uses biodynamic farming practices, for a tasting. Besides having great wine, it is one of my favorites places to taste because they give you a little snack that pairs with each of the the wines. After the big breakfast, we didn't really need more food, but had another nibble anyway.

The next stop on the tour was Goosecross Cellars. They are a small family-owned winery and were really fun to visit. They probably got extra "fun" points because we had a little buzz going from the first winery! Apparently, the family surname, Gorsuch, translates in Old English to "goose cross", which is how they arrived at the name. We tasted a few more wines, then rode very carefully back to the hotel, which was only a couple of miles away. Back at the hotel, we went for a dip in the nice, quiet pool and lounged around until it was time to get ready for dinner. As always, on my birthday, I like to eat beautiful food, drink good wine, and relax.

We ate dinner at Thomas Keller's family-style restaurant, Ad Hoc. Everything was delicious, of course, but they serve WAY too much food. I'm not a big fan of family-style service. If they would plate the food in the kitchen and tone down the portions, I would like this restaurant even more. One nice thing about the fact that there is only one menu for the evening, is that I can relax instead of changing my mind a hundred times in the space of ten minutes trying to decide what to order. On Monday, my actual birthday, we ended our food and wine tour with lunch at Redd. I have been wanting to dine at Redd since they opened a couple of years ago and they did not disappoint! We had taken a bit of a hiatus from eating out around our neighborhood, so it was nice to be treated to such great food on our mini vacation.

I dragged my heels on Monday afternoon because I wasn't quite ready to return to reality, but when we did finally make it home, I was happy to see my girls' smiling faces. Nana and Grandma had taken good care of them but they were ready to have their Mama home. Just when I thought that the celebration was over, I learned that Michelle had phoned Michael earlier in the week in order to surprise me with a scrumptious chocolate cake from her bakery where her husband whips up all kinds of amazing goodies, Cafe Madeleine. I am so lucky to have such amazing friends and family! Thank you to Michelle and Bernard for the cake, thank you to Mom and Linda for babysitting, and thank you to my darling husband for footing the bill for my expensive tastes. xoxo. There goes our dining out budget for the year! Good thing I like to cook.

Preschool!!!

I can't believe that Juliet is already in preschool. She clung to me for the first half-hour or so on her first day, but gradually explored on her own. Story time with Cocoa, her teacher, was a huge hit and she was happy to see the familiar faces of her pals, Gigi and Henry. She likes to bring her backpack ("pack pack") to school even though there is nothing inside!

I have no idea what they were talking about, but Juliet sure had a lot to say. It's crazy to think that this is the first of about twenty years of schooling for her (yeesh!).

Future Makeup Artist?

Thanks for the markers, Aunt Kathy! :o)

Teegan's Birthday Party

Here is Adeline modeling the hat I made for Teegan's baby brother Reed, before we left for Teegan's birthday party at Moscone Playground.

Here are the girls delighted by their soccer ball party favors. I didn't manage to get any pics of the birthday boy. He was having a great time playing with all the little dudes.

Playtime at Port Royal Park