Cambria Pines Lodge

After we left San Luis Obispo, we headed up the coast to attend a fantastic wedding at the Cambria Pines Lodge.  The wedding was beautiful and so were the gardens.

Love this garden bedroom.

And I want a patio like this...

Edna Valley

After a glorious day at the beach, Paige told us that she really wanted to tour vineyards, admire the scenery, and learn more about wine varietals and their various trellising techniques. Maybe I'm remembering that wrong, but we did decide to visit the Edna Valley Vineyard outside of San Luis Obispo.

The winery had a demonstration vineyard, with about twenty rows of different wine varieties and grape trellis techniques. One can never start too early to stimulate the minds of one's offspring. After all, education is very important. I would hate it if Jules couldn't discern a Pinot Noir grape from a Thompson seedless. Or not know when to use a double helix trellis system.

Once our viticulture lesson was over, we went inside to the tasting room.

Paige was excited because there was a large bridal party in the tasting room. She loves girls who are dressed up. She also likes to leave food on her face.

She also enjoys sampling free breadsticks. And sporting a silk scarf.

Jules enjoys Brandon's convivial smile.

We all admired the view.

We found a deli nearby that had goats, chickens, and old, weathered buildings taken over by morning glories.

Pismo Beach

For Brandon's birthday, we drove up the coast to Pismo Beach. This beach was just a little walk down a pretty path from our hotel.

We looked at tide pools.

Admired the cliffs and trees.

We posed in the sand and talked about how lucky we were to be at such a beautiful beach.

Jules and Grandma wore purple stripes.

Paige and I played with seaweed.

We saw the Endeavor fly south, escorted by an F-15.

We saw pretty flowers.

We played at the park.

Don't worry Brandon isn't being attacked by a giant purple butterfly. He's just flying a kite with Paige.

Jules and Grandma hung out with a dolphin and some dinosaur eggs.

It was a wonderful day.

Whoa!

We went to the fair one night in August after work. I was a little lukewarm about the whole proposition because I worried we would spend the majority of our evening looking for parking or stuck in traffic. Luckily I was wrong. Which of course doesn't happen often, so it was a pleasant novelty (yeah right). We parked in downtown Ventura, loaded up the stroller, walked through the underpass, turned right for a quick walk along the beach, and then there we were, right at the fairgrounds. People, Martina McBride was there and it was military appreciation day. As in free admission. By San Diego standards, this should have been a mess, but it wasn't.

Of course we headed straight for the food.

We had tri tip sandwiches at Susys and then headed to the agriculture building. Then we hit up the livestock.

The scariest part of the evening was watching my little girl get lifted onto a pony ride! Brandon and I watched, terrified that our little girl would fall or cry, but she told that pony who was boss. She was fierce. And cute.

And then the night was over. It was a school night after all. So we loaded up the double stroller and speed walked down the beach in the dark to the strains of Martina and little kids squealing on carnival rides.