Staycation

Hello! Hello! It's time for another long overdue post!

Kevin had spring break this past week, so I took the second half of the week off to enjoy some much needed family time. Life has been busy lately and I've been working long hours so a few days at home with my two favorite guys was perfect.

We spent most of Wednesday lounging around the house, playing and baking cookies, before everyone took a long afternoon nap. That evening, we used a guest pass to our local YMCA to check out the facility and see how little man would do in the child care they provide. Kevin got to play a few games of basketball, I got in a much needed workout and Lincoln played his little heart out in childcare. We're thinking about joining and the trip was so successful, it looks like we will be.

Lincoln goes to daycare on Thursdays and Fridays and we kept him on schedule so Kevin and I could have a little day date and some time to clean up around the house. After he was dropped off, we headed off to take a spin class (I finally convinced Kevin to spin with me!) and then after a sweaty workout, we came home, got ready for the day and headed off to brunch. It was AMAZING to sit and enjoy our coffee and food for almost two hours without a busy bee toddler wanting to run all over the place. Anytime we go out to eat as a family, we usually eat as fast as we can because we know L won't last long.  Long story short, it was really nice to just sit and talk and eat slowly. I tell ya, it's the little things in life you learn to appreciate after having kiddos! Thursday ended curled up in our bed for a cozy dinner and a movie in.

Friday was errands day! Kevin and I had a morning meeting that lasted about 45 minutes and after that I met up with a friend for coffee and a walk to the park. The sun was shining and it was almost 60 degrees, so it pretty much felt like summer. After coffee, I picked Kevin back up so we could run a couple of errands before grabbing Lincoln from daycare and heading home for an evening family walk and dinner!

Saturday was another busy day. We had a pre-school tour, gymnastics and then watched our beloved Zags advance to the NCAA championship! And we ended Sunday with a long family walk and lots of laundry!

Little Man + Rockefeller Center!

Lincoln and Kevin did a full on East Coast tour and after spending a few days in Delaware with Grandma Chong, they all headed off to Brooklyn, NY to visit Kevin's grandma, Lincoln's great grandma. They only got to spend a short time there, but they made sure to take Lincoln to see the BIG Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.

Pictures are a bit blurry because, well that's what you get when trying to reign in a toddler, two grandmas's and some iffy lighting ;0), but these are photos I know Lincoln will look back on fondly for years to come and truly appreciate as he gets older!

A few snapshots from their big trip into the city!

Little Man + Air Force One

Kevin and Lincoln made a trip back east to visit family. They stopped in Dover, DE to visit Kevin's mom, Lincoln's grandma, and then made their way over to Brooklyn, NY to visit Kevin's grandma, and Lincoln's great grandma. I didn't get to tag along this year (stupid work!), but Kevin has done such a great job of taking photos of all the fun they've had and sharing them with me.

One of the many exciting things they got to do is visit the Air Mobility Command Museum on the Dover Air Force Base. Lincoln is into all things trains, planes and automobiles so it was a pretty cool experience for him.

The museum houses over 30 different kinds of air craft, from cargo planes, helicopters and bombers and even one of the older Air Force One planes! Little man was in heaven.

Below are photos from their day.

California Adventures

Earlier in June the whole family headed down to San Jose to watch my baby brother graduate from Santa Clara University. It was most definitely a family affair full of lots of sun, fun and the sicky ickies.

We spent a few days in San Jose celebrating Griffin before heading up to Sonoma to really celebrate the graduate...any by really celebrate, I mean indulge in lots and lots of wine tasting ;0) .

The whole trip was tons of fun, with the one tiny exception of little man coming down with Hand, Foot, Mouth. We didn't let that damper our time to terribly though, and the hubby and I just took turns staying home with the unhappy little camper while the rest of the family headed out to explore Sonoma.

Pictures are below including a few from a quick stopover in San Francisco!

Adventures in Wine Country!

a few weeks ago, my siblings and i headed down to Napa, California for my little sister's big 30th birthday! it was the first time we took a siblings only trip and the first weekend i spent away from my little guy since he's been born.

it was so fun, exploring wine country with my siblings, eating yummy food (hello bouchon bakery!!!) and tasting delicious wines. we also managed to make it through the entire weekend without wanting to kill one another ;0) i think it's safe to say, iw ould definitely make our little sibling trip an annual thing, especially if it involves 75 degrees in the middle of winter ;0).

 

while we were down there, we started our trip with a walk through the town of napa and a stop at oxbow market. we tasted brandies at the napa distillery and made sure to stock up on plenty of cheese from the cheese monger as well as bread from model bakery.

for my sisters birthday dinner we headed up to st. helena, just north of napa and yountville and went to the mexican restaurant la condesa. so freaking good. we started out with a guacamole flight and then of course ordered the taco flights for dinner.

that sunday, my little brother and i woke up and headed into yountville so we could get to thomas keller's bouchon bakery. we made sure to grab breakfast, stock up on delicious treats and get yummy bread (to eat the cheese with!) as well as coffee before we headed out to the wineries. we hired a car and driver (so we wouldt drink and drive!) and headed out to go wine tasting. we went to Provenance Winery, Silverado Winery, Cosentino Winery and Domaine Chandon. all of the wineries were amazing! provenance and cosentina's wines were my favorite, but silverado definitely had the best view! we ended the day with dinner at richard reddingtons redd wood pizza, an artisan pizza place in yountville. again, so good!

everything about the trip was amazing. the only complaint we had was that it was too short!!! i'm pretty sure my sister had a pretty good 30th and i'm happy we all got to celebrate together.