Welcome to Yountville!

On February 23rd we celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. We've actually been together for 17 years! Since this was the big decade anniversary we decided to take a big trip. No San Antonio trip for us this time. We debated for months about where to go. We talked beach or snow then ended up with Napa. It sounded like a nice romantic get-a-way. While Mondo was researching Napa he stumbled upon the little town of Yountville. It's about 15 minutes away from Napa with a population of around 2000. It was fabulous! We stayed at a hotel called Bardessono that was also fabulous! We stayed for 4 days, 3 nights. I thought I'd be sad to be away from the kids for so long but it was easier than I expected. ;-)

I would highly recommend this hotel. It only has 60 rooms which makes it cozy and personal. It's won an award for being the most "green" hotel. It wasn't a selling point for me but was cool to see how they did it.

This was nice to walk in to. Sparkling wine with some candy and a nice note from the hotel.

Our private patio.

One way that the hotel is green is that this wall of windows has a special shade on it. There is a keypad on the wall that is a remote to open, close, and raise the shade. When you leave the room it goes to "sleep". After a few minutes the lights, tv, and fireplace turn off. When you return and open the door everything "wakes up" and turns on. Really cool.

The bathroom had a big jacuzzi tub and a shower. It also has remote buttons for the lights and window shade. It also had a place for an in-room massage.

Loved the fireplace. And the tv pulls away from the wall and tilts so you can watch it from bed.

One of the walkways outside of our room...beautiful!!

Going out to check out the town.

Anyone who knows me will be shocked to hear that I had salmon for dinner! And it was good!

Mmmm...lemon tart for dessert.

The next morning (our actual anniversary day) Mondo let me sleep in (woo-hoo!) and he played a round of golf. What a beautiful course! He also brought me coffee and bagels to eat in bed. Seriously, it's just what I wanted!

Our first wine tasting was at a place called Frog's Leap Winery. Highly recommend it!! We loved the down home feel. We sat on the back patio of an old house. They even brought be a blanket when I was chilly.

Sadly there was only one white wine. I tried a sip of the reds but I just don't like it. We also had some cheese and crackers to go with it.

Our view from the back porch.

We were such tourists...so excited to see an orange tree!

If I were an artist, this would inspire me to paint. What do you think Ann? ;-) We want to go back in the spring or summer to see the grapes in full bloom.

We stopped at a place called Gott's Roadside for lunch. It was a really cool place. It had covered picnic tables everywhere and lots of room for kids to run and play.

What the...that's not wine! We were told that Gott's had the best shakes so of course I had to try one! It was pretty tasty. So was the burger...once I got all of that nasty lettuce and tomato off of it. ;-)

While we were at Gott's we heard what sounded like a tornado siren. You can imagine the panic I felt...then I realized there are no tornadoes in California. Earthquake? No. Now I'm wondering if it was for this fire. I guess they do a lot of brush burning while cleaning out the vineyards. It burned all day and threatened several homes but luckily didn't do any damage.

We had our anniversary dinner at Redd (named after chef Richard Reddington). Mondo was very excited to eat there since it has a Michelin star! Right when we sat down we were presented with a bottle of champagne compliments of our hotel for our anniversary. Not too shabby.

I had a hard time deciding between the quail, duck, or antelope...no, seriously antelope?! I went the safe route with the pork tenderloin. It was really good. But not as good as the salad I had before that. It had caramelized walnuts, gorgonzola cheese, and pears in it. I know, what happened to my freakish eating habits?! I think I decided that things aren't so gross if they're high quality and cooked well.

Mmmm, why yes, I'll take a chocolate molten cake for dessert. I don't have to tell you how fabulous that was!

The next day we strolled around Yountville and did some shopping. We had to stop at Kollar Chocolates. I had a terrible time trying to decide what to get!

No, that's not my plate. ;-) I think we only bought 5 or 6 pieces. They were yummy!

Our last wine tasting was at the Trefethen vineyard. We actually had one of the Trefethens do our wine tasting! Hailey Trefethen is the granddaughter and she did our tasting. It was really cool to hear her tell the story of how her grandparents started the vineyard. So of course I had to buy a bottle of wine there!

I'll try to make a long story short. The first night at our hotel we had dessert and coffee at the hotel restaurant named Lucy. The dessert was fabulous but the service was terrible. We were there for an hour and only saw our waiter twice...and there were probably only 5 other people in the place. Mondo complained to the manager and we left. The next morning the GM of the hotel called us and invited us to dinner at Lucy on our last night there to show us how great their service really is.

Well let me tell you, they showed us great service and then some! We felt like royalty. We started with a bottle of champagne, then had a great bottle of Riesling. We each ordered an appetizer and an entree. But the food just kept coming! They brought us 2 other appetizers and I think 2 other entrees "compliments of the chef". I actually ate quail, sea bass, and some other type of fish. I think the large amount of champagne and Riesling helped me eat the weird food. And it tasted amazing!!

I had to stuff down some dessert. It may have been tiny but it was really rich and wonderful. We felt like a king and queen by the time we left with all of the fabulous service and food we received.

On our way to the airport we stopped at a great place called Champagne Bakery. I had strawberry crepes...yummo!!

We took some extra time to stop by the Golden Gate bridge. It was windy and freezing out there!

Mondo had the grand idea to hike up the bridge so we could actually stand on it. It took about 15 minutes to get to the top. My knees weren't happy.

Once we made it to the bridge we discovered that we didn't have much time to make it to the airport...which was a 45 minute drive. So we decided to join all of the other health nuts in San Fransisco and run down the bridge and down to our car. Whew!

I wanted to get a view of the crazy streets and boy did I ever! We got lost in the city trying to find a highway to get back to the airport. Let's just say I'm glad we didn't drive a standard and I was very grateful for Mondo's iphone with a map!

Aww...what wonderful memories I will always treasure from our time in Yountville. And what wonderful memories I have from our last 10 years of marriage. :-)

The Dreaded 4 Year Check Up

Right after Caleb's 3 year check up I started dreading the 4 year check up. Seriously. Ethan's 4 year check up was burned so vividly in my mind that I didn't want Caleb to have to go through it. But he did, and of course he survived. He got 4 shots (2 in each leg), a blood draw from his arm, and a TB test. He was a screaming banshee after the first poke. I had to hold him down and then Mondo had to carry him downstairs for the blood draw. So sad. :-(

He weighed a whopping 40 pounds and was on track for everything. The doctor said he was on the heavy side and talked to us about diet and limiting what he eats. I was actually stunned! Sure, he has some chunky cheeks but I don't think he looks at all overweight for his age. But...he might eat more bologna than the average kid. ;-)

Notice him holding Mondo's hand for the blood pressure. If he only knew what was still to come!

He was really cute when the nurse checked his hearing. His face lit up when he would hear the noise and he would sneak his hand up to the ear where he heard the sound. Ethan did the same thing at that age. His hearing was fine but I'm not so sure about his vision. He was being silly and not naming the right letters on the eye chart. The nurse didn't push it so I'm guessing that must happen often. I know he can see because he can see the golden arches of the McDonald's sign from a mile away!

Playdate with the Gossett's

Ahh yes. The boys always look forward to going to Colton and Carson's house. Unfortunately during the school year it doesn't happen very often. So they were very excited to go play there a few weeks ago. It was a bit chilly outside but they didn't care. They made sure to play with ALL of their outside toys and tell us which ones they needed...which were most of them.

I actually liked this one. It was easy to get in and out of. Low to the ground. Ethan drove Caleb around and around. They were in heaven.

...and then there was this. The motorcycle. Ethan has been begging for one ever since he rode it. It goes pretty fast for a kid motorcycle but he did really well on it. I would still prefer to pretend he didn't ask for one.

He did look cute on it though.

These two played really well together. I think they were being pirates on top of the swing set.

That's the closest I'll get to having a girl. Watching Mondo hold someone else's. ;-)

Playroom fun!

We made yummy fajitas, hot sauce, guacamole, etc. The kids enjoyed hot dogs. Kind of reminds me of myself as a kid.

As always the kids had a great time and we can't wait till the summer when we can hang out more!

Ethan's Birthday Party

This year we had Ethan's birthday party at Alley Cats. It was actually our first time to go. The kids had a great time bowling, playing games, and eating pizza. By the end of it Mondo and I were so overstimulated we said next year we're going to simplify birthday parties! Of course, the kids probably won't go for that idea.

Caleb bowled for the first time. He was the only one who used the little contraption to help him. He had a lot of fun and was so proud of himself. Ethan really got into the bowling. He was pretty good!

He was happy to spend some time with his buddy Colton.

They had "Happy Birthday Ethan" scrolling at the bottom of the screens while they bowled. Pretty cute.

After bowling it was time for some pizza.

Caleb chowed down!

I didn't make a birthday cake for him since he got one as part of the party package. I did make him one for another day...it's posted at the bottom.

It's funny to watch kids open presents at a party. They all start out sitting and quickly end up surrounding the birthday person and helping them open the presents.

Caleb and Hailey did this "ride". I love the look on his face. They were driving through something "scary" and he wasn't sure if he wanted to watch. ;-)

Ethan spent a lot of time and "credits" on trying to win something out of the claw machines. Poor little critter never won.

This is the Angry Bird cake I made per his request for his "real" birthday cake.

My 7 Year Old

Gasp! Where had the time gone?! How is my first born SEVEN?! It sounds so old. Of course, that's what I say every year when he turns a year older. ;-) He is in the middle of first grade right now and doing great. He has lots of friends and hates doing homework. I don't remember hating homework so early. I told him to just wait until he gets into highschool! I'm soaking in every time he asks me to come eat with him at school or when he gives me a kiss before he leaves the car. I know those days will soon come to an end. :-( He is reading 100% better than when he first started school. It's really amazing to see the transformation. As for his writing....well...if he actually puts in some effort it's pretty good.

He has a love hate relationship with his brother...but it's mainly love. The best part of my day is hearing those two play happily together or laughing uncontrollably with each other. Poor Ethan puts up with a lot from Caleb. Sometimes he just wants to be alone or quietly watch tv and Caleb is in his face or throwing toys at him wanting to play. Ethan will tell him, "Bubba is tired and cranky! Leave me alone!" Haha....

He loves when I come to his school to volunteer. He clings to me and doesn't want me to go. Yep, another moment I'm soaking up while I can.

He has taken over Gracie as "his dog". That works out well since Caleb has claimed Lexie. Really, Gracie just doesn't tolerate Caleb's craziness because she's old and crabby. I love that Ethan has bonded with Gracie and I love to see them snuggle and play together.

Speaking of snuggling, he is still a Daddy's boy big time. He always wants Daddy to lay with him at night. If given the choice of Mommy or Daddy for an activity, he chooses Daddy. That works out well since Caleb is stuck to me like glue.

He is very animated and keeps us laughing. I told him his hair looked like it had devil horns so he gave me his "devil face".

This is his "I want something and you won't give it to me" face. I see that frequently.

Since birth he has been a ladies man and continues to be. Anywhere there is a teenage girl, he's right next to her holding her hand. If we run into a girl at the park, Ethan is like a magnet to her while his other friends are playing, riding bikes, etc completely oblivious to the girl. I didn't think boys were supposed to like girls at this age. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out when he gets older.

Of course he is still a silly little boy most times and is an attention seeker. I'm suprised he hasn't broken another bone yet (knock on wood!).

The most exciting thing that has happened recently is that he learned how to ride his bike! Well, I should say we finally taught him. He would've been doing it a lot earlier if we had put in more effort. Now that's all he wants to do every day!

He still loves his cousin Blaine and thinks he hung the moon. He even offered him $5000 for his brand new car. Ethan, I don't think your piggy bank holds that much money.

Of course, what blog would be compete without a video of Ethan dancing!

We love you Ethan and are so blessed to get to be your parents! You're going to be something truely amazing one day. I just know it! ;-) Happy birthday buddy!!

Ethan's Birthday

Poor Ethan had to go to school on his birthday. But I sent the cupcakes he requested and his class sang him happy birthday so it all worked out. After school we went to eat at Olive Garden and then played some games at Main Event. I'd say he had a pretty good birthday. :-)

He had a bike helmet but wanted a new "cool" one that wasn't all black and boring like the one he had. So we bought him one that has neon green stripes on it to match his bike. He LOVES it.

Mmmm...breadsticks with alfredo dipping sauce.

Who loves Olive Garden?!

I love that Caleb still isn't quite old enough to know he's not really playing.

This was funny to watch. They love to "ride" this game. The seats shake and kind of move around while you watch a movie of a roller coaster, plane, or something that moves.

One final present...Chipmunk pj's! I think it's pretty funny that he requested pj's for his bday when he usually only sleeps in his underwear.

Martin Luther King

Ethan learned about Martin Luther King at school which brought on many conversations about treating people fairly and also about how he died. I played dumb and asked him who Martin Luther King was. You should've seen the look that he gave me. He was just dumbfounded that I didn't know. He said, "A long time ago the brown people had to sit in the back of the bus and the white people sat in the front. Martin Luther King said that wasn't fair. Now everyone gets to sit together." That's a pretty simple way to put it. He also asked me a lot about why someone shot him. Tough question. I tried to simply answer it and move on.

The first grade performed at the PTA meeting that week. I decided to grab a pic of the boys before we left.

Jeremiah (?), Braden and Will. It was so cute seeing him run up to all of his friends and chat. I remember when I was his age and had evening programs at school. I always thought it was so fun to be in my school at night with my friends.

All of the first grade classes.

That's Ethan's teacher Mrs. Dressel. She's the lead teacher for first grade.

Singing his little heart out! :-)