Eating Our Way Through Napa and Sonoma

Our friend Ron got married this past weekend in Sonoma so Jay and I took the opportunity to turn it into a mini-vacation/anniversary getaway. So off went Justin to my parents' house for the weekend. After dropping Justin off at preschool on Friday, we set forth to the North Bay and enjoyed adult conversation and the opportunity to eat WHATEVER WE WANTED!

Bone marrow appetizer at Morimoto's

Lunch bento "box" That's stewed pork belly on the bottom left.

Recreating our perfect lunch from when we were on our honeymoon in France - French bread, prosciutto, Brie cheese, and pate. We sat on the patio at OxBox Public Market and pretended we were in the South of France again.

Our friends Chris and Danille enjoying a much needed weekend away from their boys

Our friends Terry and Sharon also enjoying a weekend away from the kids

It was great to hang out with our friends and not worrying about wrangling a toddler

I made a vow to eat one of everything from Bouchon Bakery in Yountville. I came pretty close!

Chocolate heaven!

My haul

Yes, I did eat lunch first before eating all that dessert

Enjoying the afternoon at the Mondavi Winery

I even got to carry a REAL purse, with no wipes, diapers, or dinosaurs inside!

A beautiful afternoon

The boys. Hard to believe they're all grown up! :)

Ho'ike 2011

It's hard to believe that I've been dancing hula for 13 years now. *Gasp* I'm getting OLD! On Memorial Day Weekend, my Kumu Hula Kau'i Isa-Kahaku celebrated 25 years of teaching and her 15th ho'ike. It was at the Fox Theater in Redwood City. It's always a frenzied, yet fun event...trying to get costumes and props together, corral the little ones, convince the older ones to stop texting for one minute, remember all the last minute changes...but it always comes together into a beautiful show (or so my parents always tell me)! 


Jay brought Justin and both boys made it through the whole show! Jay said that Justin was pretty entranced throughout the show...maybe because it looked like one big TV show :) Before the show, I visited the boys at their table, but Justin looked at me warily...I think because I had my costume on and lots of makeup (well, I had makeup on, which is different enough!)


But fun was had by all and I was so relieved to sleep in the next day. I've been running myself ragged between hula and work and homelife...I fantasize about naps nowadays...maybe one day I'll be caught up on sleep!

Mother's Day 2011

 In a never ending quest for the perfect Mother's Day Brunch restaurant, I dragged my family out to a local San Carlos restaurant that sounded promising. It most definitely was NOT. We won't waste time on that, but Justin actually managed to have a good time in spite of everything. He especially enjoyed dessert...(oh yes, he's definitely my son!). And we managed to get a nice picture of me and my mom and Justin, so the day ended well. :)

Nesting

Justin found a new use for my raffia koko from hula...a nest for the Pteranadon family!