Napa

John and I were supposed to go to Napa as my birthday present, but I ended up having to stay in Utah longer than we'd planned. Then we tried to schedule for John's birthday weekend, but our babysitters took turns being out of town, so finally the 2nd weekend of July we went!

Our first stop was the Oxbow Market for three twins ice cream. We've had it from the grocery store, but it's even better freshly scooped.

I had ice cream for dinner and John tried a chicken taco from C Casa. Not being wine drinkers, our food tasting goals for the weekend were balsamic vinegar, chocolate, olive oil and cheese. The overall ingredient quality of the food was amazing and made for some delicious dishes. We found our favorite balsamic that night--Lucero's traditional. We brought one home and have used it several times already.

We used the last of John's hotel points and stayed in a Homewood Suites not too far from our main (and only scheduled) event: a hot air balloon ride over the valley.

We learned how they work and our pilot taught us about the history of balloon riding.

Take-off shadow.

I took this one on my phone of one of the other balloons by us. It's going over one of the winery's retention ponds.

Mid-flight picture. We look groggy because we had to get up at 4:30 to get there for a sunrise flight. They go early in the morning before wind picks up, so it's a very slow and smooth ride.

We went about 3,000 feet up and could see all over. The back right shows part of where the fires the previous week had burned some of the land.

Landed safely! There was a crew of "chasers" who ran after the balloon and pulled us down when we were close to the ground. Then they all worked to deflate and load the balloon on a truck.

We had a lovely brunch afterward at V Marketplace in Yountville, which is the poshest, cutest town, and then started touring some places we'd read about.

It was hot out, but we wanted to walk around the Castello di Amorosa--a winery with a castle.

Complete with a moat and drawbridge. John knocking to get in.

We didn't take the whole tour, but walked around until I wanted to get back in the air conditioned car.

We also went to the CIA in St. Helena.

Larger than life barrels.

We went to a farmer's market in Calistoga and bought chocolate almond cookies from some nuns that we want to try to recreate. Then we walked through the downtown area.

I found an Italian soda and bookstore and John found lunch at Bosko's Trattoria.

They had the best Parmesan cheese. John loved the house salad with ricotta salata and his piemonte pasta--fresh shells with mushrooms, sausage and roasted onions in a tomato cream sauce.

We stopped at the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield, which I've wanted to tour since I was a kid. They weren't in production over the weekend, but we watched the movies and tried all the samples.

Dinner was at Gott's Roadside in Napa Valley. It wasn't heavy or greasy like you might expect and we enjoyed every bite. I saw that they opened one in Palo Alto so that could be dangerous.

We went to the hotel jacuzzi then slept through the night. The next morning we slept in and then headed to Jack London's house in Glen Ellen.

He led a fascinating life full of adventure and his home was filled with memorabilia from his travels. 

We walked a long trail down

to his gravesite

and old house. 

A fire destroyed their home which is so disappointing because it looked amazing.

And it had a great view and was a relaxing end to our trip. We stopped in Sonoma on our way out to taste some cheeses and chocolates, finishing our list. The Cheese Factory Jack cheeses were my favorite and we had Guittard at Wine Country Chocolates, where John picked up a huge package of cocoa nibs.

We hurried home to our little guys. We missed them all weekend, but felt rejuvenated after a break from caring for them. Thanks Mom and Amanda for babysitting and making our first getaway possible!

Brotherly Love III

These two have begun conspiring against me. They are a great team--Jonah comes up with the ideas and Scott executes. Jonah gets into things and is excused because he's just exploring his world, and Scott knows better but loves to help.

Jonah follows Scott around like a puppy. The image is reinforced when Scott opens and closes his hand behind him and says, "'Um on, Nonah."

 Scott can reach things like door handles and counter tops. I came in and asked why Jonah had the cheerios all over the floor and Scott (across the room sitting innocently in his chair) says, "Nonah hungry." And I'm sure the baby climbed the counter to get himself breakfast.

When they get into something like the piano, though, I just love it. When Scott gets too rough with Jonah I put Scott in his room so they can play separately for a while, but then Jonah will cry because he's lonely.

Kicking footsy in the stroller. I thought Scott was just kicking the baby for a long time, but one day I watched through the mesh pocket at the top of the stroller and Jonah is actually the instigator. Scott has longer, stronger legs and was getting in trouble whenever Jonah started to cry. I told Scott to stop kicking and he did, then a minute later Jonah sticks his foot over and starts jabbing his brother again.

I've put Scott to work feeding Jonah when I need them both occupied, usually while I'm cooking.

Jonah prefers to eat finger foods, so sometimes he'll stop accepting spoonfuls while he feeds himself a handful. Scott takes the opportunity to feed himself.

I gave the last of the raspberries to Scott, then realized Jonah could eat them, so I took a few back and Jonah scarfed them right up.

Scott was not impressed. He does not like anyone taking food from his tray, especially when we give it to the baby.

I'm surprised by how quickly these boys have bonded as brothers. They're already making my job easier and harder.

June II

Scott is getting more helpful with Jonah when he's in the mood. His latest favorite is feeding the baby. 

He opens his mouth to get Jonah to copy him. Jonah doesn't care who feeds him or how messy it gets as long as the food keeps getting shoveled in.

As a big boy, Scott also needed bigger shoes. Daddy's are his favorite, of course. He can actually walk surprisingly well in big shoes. He also picks out his clothes. He calls these his "B bike jammies."

He came in wearing his "Icky asses" and said hello!

Bye-bye!

Speaking of big boys, Jonah is copying Scott's every move. He loves the sippy cup and sneaks water whenever Scott's not around.

Before I knew Jonah could get on Scott's bed on his own, I came in to find he had climbed up, pulled the curtains down and was stranded up there. It's not a big drop, but luckily he's developing a modicum of fear/self-preservation. 

Scott arranging the daily line-up. This day it was baskets and other toy holders, like empty puzzle boards.

Jonah playing in the dumped-out toys.

We took advantage of a Home Depot coupon and city water rebate and replaced our old toilets.

They look nicer, use less water, and most importantly come clean when we clean them! I should take a picture in our bathroom because the toilet looks out of place in the grungy guest bathroom.

Amanda gave John cheese puffs for his birthday and he shared a few with Scott. He likes counting, so he'll usually ask me for a certain number of things. This week it was "three daddy poofs please!"

Our evening boys-reading-turned-wrestling time.

I bought summer movie passes and this day my mom watched Jonah so I could take just Scott. We met John for a lunch date afterward at Chipotle. 

Jonah has been thoroughly enjoying graham crackers. He eats so much better than Scott did at his age and has consequently gotten to try way more foods earlier than I let Scott.

One of my lifelong best friends, Britta, had a Skyped baby shower. We had the cake on our end and it was tasty. I can't wait to meet her!

We picked up free tickets to the SJ Giants game at OSH. Jonah was in a great mood and smiled at everyone. He tried to mooch food from the people sitting behind us, like Scott did  as a baby. 

Scott sat on the edge of his seat and commentated--run run! fast fast fast! oh no fall down! ball! ball! bat! base! almost, try again!

Little dare devil so pleased with himself at the top of the slide. 

I bought a few matchbox cars for Scott's car mat and he added them to the car line-up.

He found my hair tie and asked for "turn." I think he makes a lovely girl.

Lined up width-wise by size.

We went up and met baby Logan. He is so sweet!

I came in to this creepy sight. Scott lined all the stuffed animals face-down, but he was actually putting them to bed. He said nigh-night, gave them a kiss, then shushed me because "baby resting."

Scott copies us and Jonah copies Scott. We have to keep ourselves in line!