Pacific Star Winery.

This will always be a place we come and visit when we are in this area. About 20 miles or so up the road from Mendocino there is an awesome winery with one amazing view. Pacific Star Winery is located on a cliff side and it's the only winery located on the coast of California. The Pacific Star Fault is a faultline that runs directly under the winery and is part of the San Andreas Fault system. This is a must see spot if your ever in the area.

 I thought this was cool picture.

There is a huge picnic area and it is also used for weddings.



On this day we were lucky enough to see a couple whales. The owner of the winery, Sally, told us they're a mom and a baby and said they have been hanging around for the past 3 months or so. Right as we spotted the whale Ryan ripped the camera from my hand and started snapping away. He was able to get some pretty good pictures considering the fog and clouds were rolling in making it hard to see. We traded Sally some pictures of the whale for a bottle of wine:) I think eventually she will post them on her website.

This was the baby whale, the mom was too far out to get a decent picture. They went pass us a couple times and then disappeared into the foggy waters. It was pretty cool.


This is such beautiful place to visit and a great place to do some wine tasting.

Mendocino.

Last fall was our first trip to Mendocino. We went on a recommendation from our good friends, so Ryan and I both knew we would love it......and we did!  The 4 hour long drive is well worth it.

Here are a few shots from the car.

 There are a couple vineyards along the way.

 The redwoods are always so pretty.



As Ryan's vacation week started getting closer I was thinking maybe we should go somewhere else like the Central Coast instead of the Northern Coast but in the end we chose Mendocino. There is just something about it that is so relaxing, laid back, and peaceful.....maybe that's because we left the boys at home with Grandma. We didn't have any screaming yelling children around and we got to sit down and eat a few nice relaxing meals. We love it there and can't wait to go back {hopefully next year}.

 Instead of trying to take a picture with the timer we had some random people take our picture who told us they had just come from Dick's....the only bar in Mendocino;)

 The sun did not shine until later in the afternoon:( So all the time we spent at the headlands was sunless.

 A shot from the headlands looking at the town.

Some cute little starfish.

 Ryan trying to freak me out. You can't tell but he was waaaayyyy down there.

Oh look....there he is again.

He was like really......another picture?!

 Don't you just love little towns like this?! So cute and charming.

 These little mushrooms are the one and only thing I wanted to get while we where there and I totally forgot. We were going to go back so we wouldn't have to carry them around town with us. I bought some last year and just love them. They are so cute. They are hand blown and they come in a variety of sizes from small to jumbo (these are the small ones) anyway totally bummed I didn't get to add any to my collection.

The first day we just walked around town and checked out the headlands then had an awesome dinner. {One thing I wish I would have done was take food pictures, the pork chops we had for dinner that night were off the hook yummy but so was everything else we had to eat...hehehe}.
I have lots more to share. So stay tuned and come back for more!



Wednesday's Wine.

One of my favorite wines makes a Moscato d'Asti. To my surprise our local Target carries a great selection of wines these days. That is where I found the Cupcake Moscato. I hope the next time we make it to Monterey Cupcake Vineyards is open to the public for wine tasting and tours. As of right now they are not :(

One night we had breakfast for dinner so I thought a Mimosa would be perfect. It was delish.

Summer Concerts.

Over the last month we have been lucky enough to make it to a couple concerts. That means a couple date nights. The concert last week was on Ryan vacation so it was nice to get a babysitter for the night and go out to eat before the show and not have to rush home for bedtime. The concert last month was on a work night so poor Ryan only got about 3 hours or so of sleep.
Last week we went and saw Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich, and Cowboy Troy. It was an awesome show. The best part was it was a smaller venue so you could see pretty good from every seat. The way they had their play list set up was pretty cool. The kinda went back and forth, Gretchen Wilson would play and sing in their songs and they would do the same with her songs.
And I could definitely people watch there all day long. For sure some interesting looking people;) I almost started taking random pictures of people because it would have made for an awesome post....hahaha.
Sometimes I just can't get over what some people wear. It's mind boggling.

Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich.

Last month we went to see Sugarland. I LOVE Jennifer Nettles! She is so freaking HOT! Next time I told Ryan we are going in the front row, whether he likes it or not. I order the tickets anyway so I will just surprise him once we get there. Plus it will give me more room to dance...hehehe.  We couldn't see all that great from where we were sitting, eventually we moved and ended up standing (that way I could shake my booty). It was just too far away. But we also saw them a week after that horrible accident in Indiana where a wind storm came and their whole stage collapsed ending in tragedy. So we were thinking they probably didn't have their usual stage set-up that might have had some jumbo tron screens. It was still an awesome show and I would for sure go see them again.

Sugarland.

And these pictures were taken with the phone. Oh how I love my new iPhone! And I am loving Instagram. I am totally obsessed with both;)  The last concert we went to before these two was Nickelback and that was last fall so we were over due for a show.

Have you been to any good concerts lately?

Oh and a random question.....Does anyone have the upgraded Picnik? And is it worth getting?

Family Fun.

Last month we took the kids to Marine World (that's what I call it). I think it's really called Discovery Kingdom Six Flags or something. Growing up it was always Marine World to me but when they started adding roller coaster rides to the park it became Six Flags. The boys had a blast and Cameron is still asking to go back;)

 Looking at the dolphins. Why can't he look at the camera?!

 Watching the sea lion show, it was cut short because Cameron had to take a potty break.

 Easton did not want his picture taken.

 The cute little dolphins.

 Standing in line to ride the go-carts.

 All buckled in and ready to go.

 He absolutely loved the go-carts and talked about it for days.

 Poor Easton couldn't go and he was pissed! Maybe next year he will be tall enough.

 Checking out the tiger.

 He wanted to see the giraffes so bad, he probably asked about them like a million times.

 The butterfly exhibit, one of my favorite things there. Couldn't take many pictures because I had both kids with me. Ryan stayed with the stroller (no strollers allowed) so it made picture taking difficult.

 Feeding the sea lions.

 We could have stayed here forever. The boys were so content watching the dolphins and the best part was there was hardly any people here. They had the whole area to themselves. I wish I had this at home.

 Easton was so cute chasing them back and forth.

 They would swim towards the glass and he would run away, it was so funny.

 Cameron called this the little monster truck ride. We were both surprised he wanted to ride it. He even said he wanted to go on a big roller coaster ride.....YEAH RIGHT!

 Dad had to ride it with them so I could take pictures;)

 There was a huge playground (we did this last) and of course they didn't want to leave.

 We were still there for the last whale show of the day. The first show Shouka the whale was not listening and the show was cut short but now the sun had started going down and it got chilly real quick.

 This was the second show we saw. Much better jump than the first show.

 Easton taking a cat nap during the first show. It kinda worked out good that we came back for the second one so he could see it too.

Why can't he look at the friggin camera?!

We will for sure go back next year. Maybe even more than once. Both the boys had a blast and as the get older they enjoy things like this so much more. I love seeing their reactions and I love hearing what Cameron has to say about it all.

Hello.

HELLO! We are back from our little trip. I feel like I have been gone forever and I have lots of catching up to do. We had a great time on our little getaway. And the rest of the week is pretty full too. Can't wait to type up a "real" post and share some pictures from the beautiful northern California coast. I also have some stuff from the past month or so to share.  I hope you will stick around and bear with me. Getting on the computer isn't my number one priority...sorry folks.
Stay tuned.......