What A Weekend!

I had the best weekend, ab fab! Kristi came out late Friday night to celebrate her birthday with yours truly. She brought along her brother in-law or in her words , “a play date for Shane.”

Saturday morning we hit the bay for some paddle boarding. The weather wasn’t the greatest but it turned out to be just fine meaning it didn’t rain, and we weren’t shivering. The only concern I had once we were on our boards was that we were surrounded and I really mean surrounded by jelly fish. Big ones, small ones, gazillions of them. I really didn’t want to go swimming with them, at all! Luckily mission accomplished, we stayed dry.

We followed up the SUP morning with cake and champagne. I made a coconut cake for the birthday girl but I I half-assed it using a Trader Joe’s vanilla cake mix and doctoring it up. The frosting was coconut cream cheese, there really isn’t anything better.

I apologize for any regurgitated pictures. If you are following me on Instagram you have seen some of these. I try not to do this very often but this weekend was so busy that you’re just going to have to deal and accept my apology 🙂

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After K’s nap we took the trolley downtown to grab lunch and people watch  the crazies at Comic Con. Next year or one year soon we will get tickets and really check the whole thing out. (AKA meet True Blood stars) I could have stayed down there all day  and night…next time.

We ate lunch at Hodad’s because A). we haven’t been to the downtown location yet. B). anything remotely close to the convention center was packed and C.) it’s Hodad’s, if you haven’t gone you should.

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After lunch we headed to a little tasting room and enjoyed the scenery and some wine. Kaili was such a trooper , happily went along with everything we did, and none of the costumes scared her…bonus!

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We ended the night with pizza, more wine and some hot tub converstions. Such a great day.

Get that pizza!!
Get that pizza! Picture courtesy of Kristi Kowalski

The next morning we hit the beach for some breakfast. Kaili wasn’t in tears when I dragged her down to the ocean, things are looking up.

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Quick video of ComicCon people watching.

From OC to Walla Walla

I have been waiting to write anything because, well nothing has really happened. That’s the life here during the winter in Walla Walla.

We left John Wayne airport early Monday morning. Kaili was a champ throughout the 2 1/2 hour flight, although it seemed a lot longer to me. We had a small layover in the Sea/Tac airport where we had a little lunch and Kaili met an elf and Santa.

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Tuesday  morning I hit the local YMCA to get some exercise , the weather is SO COLD and the equipment is outdated but the little old ladies playing cards and drinking coffee in the lobby remind you that you are in a small town and then it’s all good.  We ran a few boring errands, hit 3 Rivers Winery to ship some wine home and then called it a day. See, not very exciting.

Wednesday morning we took Kaili to meet her Great Grandma and then proceeded on to some wineries.

L'Ecole
L’Ecole

L’Ecole is a long time favorite. It’s an old school house and has some pretty tasty wines.

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Just  a few more wineries before bringing home dinner.

Found one of my favorite blogs cookbooks in the Woodward winery tasting room
Found one of my favorite blogs cookbooks in the Woodward winery tasting room

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Hassleback #8
Hassleback #8

Kaili found a nice doggy to keep her company while we tasted some really big red wines at Skylight Cellars.

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The last tasting room we hit was in downtown Walla Walla. Yes there is a downtown, it’s not big but it’s promising. Charles Smith winery was quiet, had the urban loft vibe and put out some great wines….oh and there labels were nice.

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We ended the day with Ice-Burg, a local hamburger joint that puts out great food, well pretty good food.

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A quick video with grandma and a kiss goodnight. Until tomorrow!

Grandma and KBear
Grandma and KBear

Drinking in the Hills

We spent a fun day visiting a couple of wineries this past Saturday. Our good friend Kristi drove from Arizona for a quick visit and we knew where we wanted to take her.

Cordiano Winery sits perfectly perched in the hills of San Pasqual Valley and the atmosphere is priceless. We sat, ate pizza, drank wine and watched Kaili walk around  and around making new friends, with humans and dogs. If you are ever in the neighborhood, stop in for a visit.

not everyone drinks wine at a winery

Kaili has gotten this walking thing down pretty well now. She likes to get a toy and then walk up and down the hallway with it in her hands babbling to herself. You can really see the confidence oozing and it wont be long before she is running. I tried to get her to walk her “puppy” down the hall but getting her to do what I want while the camera is out doesn’t work very well.