WHEW! So it is our second full day home now and man I am worn out! I literally spent all day yesterday either doing laundry or unpacking. Ugh…glad that is done!! Well, almost done anyway! There are still some odds and ends to take care of, but I am not so much in the mood for that right now, so instead I am sharing some pictures and such from our trip last week! Blogging is WAY more fun than cleaning and doing chores!!
First of all…we stayed in Napa Valley, Yountville to be exact, and the hotel was A*M*A*Z*I*N*G. It was extremely nice and a photographers dream! There were fountains and flowers and grasses and ponds and bridges and just about anything you could ever think of! And that was just at our hotel! If you ventured out just a little bit there was even more incredible scenery and backdrops! Too bad my kids are at unbelievably hard ages to shoot right now!! Huntler gives me the fake, cheesy smile and Gentry just runs off! But, we were so busy while we were there that there just wasn’t enough time to work in extra photo shoots anyway!! Needless to say, I didn’t get any award winning shots, but oh well!!
We had a great time! We actually went because Chris qualified for this trip through work. There was only one other child there, and he was with our group! So, based on this little fact, you can guess that this was not so much a kid oriented trip! HOWEVER, we did our own thing and truly had a wonderful time!! (Many of you know that I don’t leave my kids anywhere…I just don’t do it. So, either we all went or the kids and I stayed home. Thank goodness we all went – it was a great trip!!)
Since we had our kids we didn’t tour the wineries or do the typical “Napa thing.” In fact, I didn’t drink one sip of wine the entire time we were there!! Craziness I know, but I am so not a wine drinking kind of girl! Nor am I a spinach ball rack of lamb eating kind of girl…more on that in another post.
So, we spent Thursday in San Francisco. One of the guys we were with has friends there who met up with us and gave us an amazing tour! I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that our tour was so spectacular…these friends are
incredibly talented individuals.
Justin is a musician and
Amy is an artist who most recently has taken up photography (she was even so kind as to give me some pointers!!). How lucky were we to get to spend a day with two such inspiring and creative people?! Pretty darn lucky if I do say so myself!! Since they live in this city on the bay, they know their way around and were able to take us places that were totally off the beaten path! Everywhere from the fabulous locale where we viewed the Golden Gate Bridge to this quaint little cafe where we ordered lunch and ate on blankets facing the ocean!
We visited the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf, Ghirardelli Square (where I bought not one but TWO of
Kara’s Cupcakes…YUMMY! The carrot cake one was featured on Martha Stewart!), Chinatown, North Beach…we were all over and loved every minute of it! Although we live in a BIG city, it is nothing like San Francisco,
nothing!!
So…that gets us through Thursday!! Well, almost. We ate dinner at this yummy little Italian place and then stopped for some gelato on our way out. Yeah, so I didn’t even know what gelato was, but now I do! Of course, I am lactose intolerant and only had a tiny little taste, but it was delish!! Anyway, this little gelato stop slowed us down a bit and we didn’t get to our rental car until after 10:00. No biggie you are probably thinking…but YES it was a biggie! The parking garage closed at 10:00 and the gate was locked. We got in without a problem, but by the time we had diapers changed and kids loaded and everything, it took awhile. By some miracle the attendant was still working about 15 minutes late and let us out. Apparently he didn’t have to since we were the ones who didn’t read the signs and pay attention to the fact that we needed to be out by 10:00, but THANK GOODNESS he did!! YIKES!! Now, we have spent the night in a mini van before when we got stuck in a blizzard on Highway 40 during our trip home from Christmas 2006…but we SO don’t want to go there again!! Hmm…I think I need to share that story as my Flashback Friday this week! It was memorable to say the least!
Friday was not quite as action packed…we tried to go visit Muir Woods but there was a fatality accident and traffic was a mess and things just didn’t work out, so we just hung out at the hotel and rested a bit before heading out to dinner that night. It was actually nice to have the day off! We got burnt while we were out walking all day Thursday and we all know how getting fried sucks the energy out of you!! WHEW! Chris is peeling but so far I am not! Let’s hope I don’t! (Gentry was a little red, but she seems to tan really well for some reason and Huntler didn’t seem to get burnt at all!)
So, Saturday we loaded up and headed for Muir Woods and Stinson Beach. But, I have typed a ton here so I am going to wait and share those photos and stories in my next post!
Here is Gentry on the night we arrived…I bought some new Photoshop actions and have been playing! I love the dramatic look on this one!! It obviously isn’t subtle, but I like the effect!
Hmm…he obviously did not inherit my intense fear of birds now did he?! Speaking of…I hit a bird today when we were out running errands! YUCK!
This is before I did anything in Photoshop…I forgot to duplicate the next image before editing it, but this one was super close. Anyway, look at what 5 minutes in Photoshop can do (the image below this one)!! Bright blue skies and details in the water!! I am no pro, but I am loving learning this stuff!! For so long I thought it was ALL about the shots! While it starts with a good image, Photoshop is what makes it great!! FUN FUN FUN!!
< p>Before…
After…
More Photoshopping…
The kids did NOT care for the “Tin Man” one single bit!! He was painted all silver and made funny little noises and very precise movements!! Gentry did get him to “crack” though! I told her to shake his hand and she said, “Don’t want it.” He smiled really big and said, “She don’t want it!” I thought it was kinda cute because he was so “in character” and she managed to take him out of that for a brief moment!
Ok…I am having line spacing issues again! Anyway, the bottom photo is Lombard Street…it is the most crooked street in the U.S. or something like that! It is such a cute little street but I bet the traffic is a nightmare!!
