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Sunday, March 17, 2013

Sonoma....adults only!

 We have been planning this trip with the Bell's for a long time!!!  Well, we had been planning "A" trip with them for a few years now but either Sharon or I was either pregnant or nursing a small child so we finally decided to take the plunge this Spring Break.  We decided to go to Sonoma in California because the first time we were in that area, I was freshly pregnant with Cole and so extremely sick.  The second time we were out there, Finley was about 2 months old and nursing so I couldn't quite partake in the festivities.  
This time, however, it was just the adults and nobody was pregnant or nursing.  Well, Sharon technically is still breast feeding but she was such a trooper and just pumped whenever she got a chance.

My parents were so kind to drive down to Texas for a couple reasons.  1.  they had to deliver our new kitchen table.  Yes, we live in Dallas and couldn't find a kitchen table but of course found one when we were home over Christmas at my parents favorite furniture store.  And 2.  They were going to watch the kids for a couple of the days we were gone.  It was so nice to have them here for a few days and I so wish we could've had more time together.  
Since I have been on my crazy diet lately, I had not gone out to eat in almost a month so we splurged a little bit and went out for some yummy pizza one night they were here.  I did cheat and had one small piece of pizza...oops :)
 Finley absolutely loves Mimi!!!  She wanted my mom to hold her all the time, it's adorable!!
 Papa and Cole....ahhhh!!!

 Nick and I flew out Monday afternoon.  I was sad to leave the kiddos and my parents, this was the longest I had been away from them.  But, it was so nice to just have some alone time with Nick and our good friends.
 
 AND, Nick upgraded us on the way there.  It was a 3.5 hour flight so we thought we might as well upgrade.  We had free food, drinks, bags, free movies...it was fabulous!  I had two glasses of sparkling wine and was loving every minute!

 We worked it out with Chris and Sharon that we all arrived within minutes of each other so once we picked them up we spent the afternoon/evening in San Francisco.  We had an excellent dinner and then drove up to Healdsburg, where we rented a house.
This house was adorable!  It took some crazy (scary) roads to get up there but the views were amazing.  
This is from our porch the first morning we were there.  It's always a little foggy there but quickly burns off.
 We also had a bit of a hike to get to the front door.  That is Nick waaaaay down there....
 Our first morning we didn't waste any time.  We hit up Freemont Diner, which apparently is pretty popular and the food was to die for.

 After breakfast we hit up 5 winery's.
Our first stop....Gloria Ferrar

 Then St. Francis
 We had to stop at Paradise Ridge because this is where Blake and Emily got married.  It was as beautiful as we remembered!!
 This is where their ceremony was
 And, what was so cool was that after we did our wine tasting, Nick looked over and saw Blake and Emily's wedding album on one of the tables.  Their photography was advertising and we thought it was so cool that it was Blake and Em's!!!
 The four of us with their album :)
 Next stop....Ledson
How cool is this place!!!  Amazing building!
 After we were done with day #1 wine tasting, we just hit up a pub in Healdsburg and went back home, we were exhausted.  The house we stayed in had the best porch.  We sat out there almost every morning and night and the weather was absolutely perfect.

Day #2:
We did about 4 winery's the second day and our favorite was Twomy.  Chris and Sharon even joined their wine club.  That was definitely one of our favorites!!


Day #3:
Our last day of wine tasting, again, we hit up about four.  I think day 3 was probably my favorite.  Now, I was a little sick of wine at this point but I loved the places we went.
Ferrari Carrano

 Pretty Sharon :)

 Bella...this was my all time favorite!!!! 
It was a small winery and the tasting room was in that cave.
 What it looked like walking into the cave...so cool!!!!
 Their wine was my favorite and we definitely bought some bottles!  Like I said, by the 3rd day, some of the wines all start tasting the same so when I tasted Bella's wine and it had such a distinct taste, I knew I loved it!  We really debated on joining their wine club but since it's a good investment we decided to sleep on it.  Well, I've slept on it for 3 nights now and I still want to join the club, ha!  I think we probably will...at some point.

We always had the best lunches while we were out wine tasting.  The last day, we went to this adorable store in the middle of nowhere and bought cheeses, meats, chips, crackers, olives and bought a bottle of wine and just sat out in the garden at Lambert Winery.  The weather was divine and that is definitely a perfect day!
 We were out there just the perfect amount of days.  We certainly were so excited to see the kids and sleep in our own beds but we truly had the best time with the Bell's!!!  They are so near and dear to our hearts and just one of those couple's that we love traveling with.  Can't wait to do it again with them!

 I do have to share this picture that my dad sent us while they were babysitting.  Cole was so excited to go hit some golf balls with Papa and he was nice enough to send us this adorable picture.  I'm sure it was such a fun day for my dad!!!!
 My parents had to drive back to Colorado Wednesday morning and then Nick's parents finished out the week with the kids till we got home on Friday.  We are so thankful to both grandparents for helping watch our hoodlums.  It's so nice to not worry about them and know they are in good hands.  
However, while we were gone, Benson figured out how to get through our wrought iron fence in the back so Nick spent all day today putting some mesh stuff on the fence so he can't get out.  Dumb dog...that's exactly how we wanted to spend our Sunday :)

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