Last weekend in Napa

Marc and I had a wedding in Napa last weekend so we were able to somehow convince my Mom, Aunt Sally and Sara to meet us up there as well. It was real hard, let me tell you ;). Everyone flew in to Sacramento Thursday morning around the same time and we drove to Napa. I have been looking forward to this trip for a long time. Not only did we get to go to a wedding that was off the hook but we also got to visit wineries along the way. And because my sis was going we were going to get the VIP treatment. Sally is the only one that hasn't been to Napa before, but both her and Marc haven't went with my sister to get the VIP experience. My sister and I surprised my Mom with a trip to Napa a few years ago on her birthday and this weekend happened to fall on her birthday again. So we had a full weekend ahead of us!

On the flight out we had 3 rows around us empty so Caiden was all over the place.

He wanted us to turn the light off and on over and over again.

On the way to Napa we stopped in Davis, the town we stayed in a few weeks ago. We had lunch and stopped at an ice cream sandwich place. I didn't say anything about this place earlier because I had too many other things to talk about. But on Friday and Saturday night this place had a line out the door probably 80 people deep. They have warm homemade cookies and a bunch of different ice creams and you pick your own combinations. I figured that wouldn't be a bad way to start off the trip.

He had his first taste of soy ice cream...he loved it.

On Thursday after we checked out the house we went to our first winery, Domaine Chandon. We were all in the mood for some bubbly. We pretty much took 5-10 minute turns chasing Caiden around until everyone drank their tasters.

On Friday morning at 10am we had a private tasting at Trefethen. We got the true VIP experience. We had our own room with everything set up waiting for us. Caiden managed to take his morning nap in the stroller for an hour and woke up at the end. It worked perfect.

We even got a tour of the private residence in the back.

This is the kitchen in the pool house. A show on the Food Network was filmed here and they have huge garden next to the house where the chef would pick fresh veggies for the show.

And here's Caiden eating one of those fresh veggies from the garden, a tomato.

Our next appointment that day was at Far Niente. Unfortunately they don't allow children on the tour/ tasting at this winery so Marc had to take one for the team and sit this one out. But before the tour and tasting we had a little picnic lunch with some cheese, crackers and sausage while sitting on their lawn.

The driveway up to Far Niente

That is Far Niente's building in the background.

This winery had cheese pairings with each of their wines.

After Far Niente we didn't have another scheduled tasting but it was still early, as most wineries are open until 5pm. So we decided to go to Stag's Leap.

On Saturday we started the day with a tasting scheduled at Ladera. This winery is located up in the hills of Napa about 45 minutes away from downtown. We had to work really hard to keep Caiden awake on the car ride there so he would take his nap in the stroller instead of in the car but we did it! Overall we were not impressed with these wines but we did get to take a tour of their cave system for storing wine. There are a few wineries that have built out caves to store their wine at optimal temperature. They will even do private events down there if you are a member of their wine club.

After Ladera we went to Heitz. Caiden was entertained by a dog that was there which helped with us being able to taste the wines. They had a port wine that Marc and I loved so much we bought a bottle! Can't wait to open it!

Marc and I had the wedding that evening so after Heitz we headed back to the house. The wedding was at V. Sattui Winery and it was beautiful. The highlight was a mashed potato bar during the cocktail hour, if anyone knows my love for mashed potatoes, you would know that I was a very happy girl. They also had a cigar bar, a port bar, a gelato bar and a photo booth during dinner/dancing. The attention to detail was amazing and everything was so perfect. Congrats Lindsey & Jerrod!

Mashed potato martini!

On Sunday we didn't start the day until a 1:30 appointment at Artesa. Caiden took a nice long 3 hour nap at the house before we left so everyone was in a great mood ;). My sister even took Caiden out for coffee that morning.

This was my second time to Artesa and it never disappoints. The wines are amazing and the views of wine country are about as good as they get. On a clear day you can even see downtown San Francisco. Although we couldn't see it this time because there was a just a bit too much fog in the distance.

After Artesa we went to a champagne winery not far away, Domaine Carneros. This place is beautiful and reminds me of an Italian Villa but the service is pretty snooty and it's not as laid back as most wineries. You have to wait to be seated and it's just so corporate. Each time we go we leave and say we're never going back...this time we mean it.

After wine tasting for the day we went out to dinner to celebrate my Mom's birthday. We went to Turla in downtown Napa. The restaurant selection in downtown has improved tremendously since the first time Marc and I went 7 years ago. And all the locals keep saying it's just getting more and more busy all the time. Even traffic on the highway that runs down the middle of the valley through Napa was way busier than last time we were there.

Helping Grandma blow out her birthday baklava.

This was another amazing trip. I'm so bummed it's over, I was looking forward to it for so long. Napa has always been one of my top 3 favorite places to vacation in the country. Caiden did great and was such a trooper sleeping in a pack n play in a small closet, not getting his full naps some days and being shuffled in and out of a car seat all day. Honestly though I'm not sure this trip is doable with more than one kid, even if you do have all the extra hands so I'm glad we made it happen this year.

Caiden's 15-month check-up

Another appointment down. He's really starting to get antsy after waiting 10 minutes or so. Although he does really good for Dr. Roberts and just watches while he messes with him. But man, when there's a break or when we're trying to talk to the Dr. he just wants to get down and mess with everything. The shots were like usual, cried real good for a minute or so but cheered up when they were done. He didn't like getting held down this time either. He started freaking out right when Marc grabbed his arms and wouldn't let him move. I imagine this only gets worse for the next few years.

They weighed him, measured him, checked his eyes, ears and belly and shot him with 3 vaccines. He weighed 23 lbs. 2 oz. (54th percentile), 31.1 inches long (45th percentile) and his head is in the 67th percentile. Everything went great and he'll see us again in 3 months for his 18 month appointment. Then we get a small break and don't have to go in for another 6 months (it's been every 3 months since he was born).

Oh and his molars have finally broke through. Two so far, one on the top left and one on the top right. Totally explains the massive drool, running nose and clinginess over the past two weeks.

He refused to sit on the scale.

Happy Halloween

Boy was this day crazy. I did a test drive at home before we left and this is how it went.

Thankfully it got better as the day went on and by the end he didn't even know it was there. After the test drive we headed to Marc's office. They did a trick or treat thing and a bunch of people dressed up, including Marc. He dressed up as a pirate and seriously makes the best pirate ever. Next year I'm going to convince him that he needs to wear eye liner as well! Can't wait!

Marc met us in the parking lot and Caiden was terrified. This lasted for a good 4 hours until Caiden got used to his costume. This meant I was pretty much a human stroller for a good part of the afternoon.

We didn't get home until 5:15 and on the way Caiden fell asleep. He only took a 2 hour nap earlier that day so by the time we left Marc's office he was a nightmare. I think everything was so overwhelming for the previous few hours that he was just exhausted. He cried for a good 20 minutes in the car and finally fell asleep as we were pulling in the neighborhood, go figure. So at 5:15 he took a 30 minute nap. I was so glad he did because I knew it would be a long night.

When he woke up we quickly fed him and then went to our neighbors. They had pizza and beer and a few friends over. There were a bunch of kids Caiden's age and they played in all the candy and ran around in their costumes. Our neighborhood is filled with kids and we've met a few families that we really like. We also took him around to those houses to say hi and then down the street to a house that goes all out every year. This year they created a mini haunted house in their front yard. They had about 10 people dressed up in scary costumes and a few carnival games. It was so much fun. There were even people that drove to our neighborhood just to trick or treat so the streets were super busy.

Marc and I traded off so that one of us was home to hand out candy. Marc was so excited because he wanted to scare kids. He had creepy Halloween music playing in the background and all the lights turned off. He said he got a few kids pretty good. Caiden was having so much fun by the end of the night and would watch all the kids come up to the door and loved being able to walk in and out. He kept his costume on all night and didn't mind a bit. Trick or treating was finished around 8:30 and by the time we were done seeing everyone in the neighborhood is was about 9. By the time Caiden got to bed it was 9:45! Way past his bedtime and by 9:30 he was so ready for bed. But it was so worth it and such a great night. I can't wait till next year! And we'll probably have all this leftover candy around until then as well.

Oh, and last weekend we carved the pumpkins that I bought at the pumpkin patch. We totally cheated and used power tools to do the job but they turned out so good. Here are a few pics: