Sunny Sister Time!

Last week i had an awesome impromptu vacation to visit my big sister in California! At the last minute, she had decided to take a week off of work and do some relaxing, so I got a text from her Monday late morning about coming down to keep her company in the sun for a few days. A few hours later I was on a plane to SF! 

My Plane Ride

I got in late Monday night, so we started our girls night out right with some wine, cheese, cookies (thanks to her mother-in-law who mailed a giant tin of delicious just in time for my visit!), and girl talk! Tuesday morning we slept in a little and spent some time in the gym before heading up to Napa for a day of wine tasting!

Cakebread Cellars

Napa Cellars

Goosecross Cellars

Trefethen Vineyards

We hit up 4 different wineries. We started at Cakebread Cellars where we were taken on a little tour of the grounds while sipping wine. Next up was Napa Cellars where Kimberly and Jason are wine club members, which meant free wine tasting for us ;) They also had a shipment of wine to pick up while we were there. Next was Goosecross Cellars. We went there to check it out because our little brother is a wine club member there. We mentioned that while they were giving us a tasting, and at the end they surprised us by saying we could have the tasting for free since he was a member there...yay more free wine! We finished off at Kimberly's other wine club winery, Trefethen Vineyards. After all our tastings, we hit up the outlet mall on the way home. At home we picked up some sushi and chick flicks for another super girly night!

Wednesday after a morning run, we did some more relaxing...this time by the pool! Ahhh, it felt so good to lay out in the sunshine.

Wednesday night we went into Oakland to hang out with the rest of the family! We picked up Lauren from work and hit up a tiki bar for happy hour! Jordan met us there too as soon as he got back from work. 

For dinner we tried out a super cute little mac and cheese place. It's probably a good thing that this place is no where near me because I loooove mac and cheese a little too much. This place was amazing with so many different options and add ins. I think I'm getting hungry just thinking about it now...mmmmm.

After dinner we headed near where Lauren and Lance live and went out for some post dinner drinks, and Kimberly happened to have some cupcakes that needed consuming...yummmm.

Thursday afternoon I had to head back up to Seattle. I always have so much fun hanging out with the siblings in the bay area...hopefully it can happen again soon!

Pete Lake

This is a pretty short post, but super pretty! It's been soooo nice in Seattle lately that we've been getting ramped up for a pretty awesome hiking season! We went on a gorgeous day hike with Ben out to Pete Lake about an hour east of Seattle. Enjoy some pretty pictures!

Memorial Day Weekend

Yes, I am fully aware that I haven't posted anything in several weeks. I have been quite busy, so now I have several fun posts to catch up on! Let's start with Memorial Day Weekend! Just a few days after we got back from Florida, we got visitors in Seattle! My little brother, Jordan, and his wife, Kristen came up from San Francisco to visit for the weekend! We started out on Friday with a few stops around downtown Seattle including lunch in the market, then a stop by the aquarium!

Later Friday night we met up with Kristen's sister and brother in law, who also happen to be architects in Seattle ;)

Saturday we had a big day ahead of us with a lot of hiking! Unfortunately it was a little snowier and wet than we were hoping so we just wandered the trail as long as we could without losing sight of it in snow.

After our hike we were all quite famished, so we headed over to Leavenworth to get some margaritas and mexican food....yum!

Monday, we all met up again for some boating on Lake Union! This was the first time I've tried the electric boats you can rent on there. We had it for 2 hours and could bring food and drinks on board, so that's what we did, a little picnic lunch while we boated around the lake!

After the boat ride, it was time for Jordan and Kristen to head back down south, but I'm super excited they could have a fun little weekend here!!

Florida Family Fun Time!

So after we played for a few days in the Orlando theme parks, we headed down to Fort Myers for the real reason for the trip, to visit Ryan's family. We ended up getting in really early Wednesday morning (like 2am-ish) and were greeted by Ryan's Aunt who stayed up waiting for us. After chatting for a few, we crashed. When we got up, we had a big day ahead of us! We started out meeting one of Ryan's cousins' family for breakfast before heading straight to an awards ceremony for Chloe, their 7 yr old daughter. For her 7th birthday, Chloe had asked all her friends and family to bring a cash donation instead of gifts. She used that money to buy a bulletproof vest for one of the police dogs who didn't have one. She was getting an award from the city for doing a good deed. She was the smallest one there getting an award, so she could barely see over the table they all had to sit at. It was pretty cute.

Chloe barely peaking over the tabl

Chloe with the dog who got the vest

After the ceremony we went over to Ryan's other cousin's fire department where he was working to surprise him! He was actually out on a call when we got there, but got back a few minutes later and gave us a tour around the station and had a few minutes to hang out with us. Later that night we met up with people again for dinner on the beach with a beautiful sunset in the background! I love sunsets on the beach!

Thursday morning we spent a few hours at the pool before heading to the airport to pick up Ryan's mom!

That evening we picked up a bunch of food and did a little cookout at Ryan's Aunt and Uncle's house.

Ryan, Mom, Cheryl, and Keith

Friday morning we wanted to hit up the beach again! It's so pretty! We stopped at a super cute little beach side shack to grab some breakfast biscuits to bring to the beach and set up a spot. After a little swimming and tanning, Ryan's cousin, Adam, came out and we all joined him in picking up his son from daycare and going to lunch.

Adam on his motorcycle.

My hubby is so cute

After lunch we took Foster, the 3 yr old, back to the pool for an afternoon of swimming.

Foster learning to swim with Ryan and Grandma

Friday night we got EVERYONE together for a birthday dinner for Ryan! There's a lot of people there when everyone gets together, and a lot of small children! Really only 4 kids, but it seemed like a lot of energy to go around.

Avery helped Ryan blow out the candles...sort of.

Saturday we got to spend the morning on a boat! We piled 11 of us on a party boat and drove around for a few hours with a little stop off at a sand bar for some swimming!

Avery, Ryan, and KJ

Who's that handsome boat captain?!?

Foster did not want to wake up and walk to the car.

This happened for a long time...Ryan got a good work out.

Foster, KJ, and Chloe

This is what happens when a 3 year old steals your camera and takes selfies.

on a boat

Sunday morning we got up bright and early to take Ryan's mom to the airport. After that we met everyone else for breakfast again! As we packed and got ready to head back to Orlando to catch our flight later that day, we hung out at Ryan's Aunt and Uncles house and everyone ended up popping by for a little more farewells ;)

Avery loved Ryan ;)

Funny faces with Chloe

We finally made it home about 1am Monday morning. We had such a great trip and it was so much fun to finally meet all of Ryan's cousins and play with all their little ones, they're so cute!! I'm really glad Ryan's mom got to join us out there too, it's always awesome to spend time with family! Speaking of family...my little brother and sister-in-law will be in Seattle tonight...wooohooo!!!