Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  I am thankful for:

- my wonderful husband

- my daughters

- my mom (how would we get through the day/week without you?)

- my big fun family

- my amazing friends

- my health

- my job

- good food, which I eat a lot of

- travel

- wine

- the people who work at the Point Mugu CDC and care for my children

- Alicia, our amazing babysitter

- California's weather and beauty

- Good books, magazines and blogs

- and so much more!

Portland 2013

If I had to sum up our time in Portland it would have to be the following: Children splashing in urban fountains, then gourmet ice cream.

We took a few short breaks from the fountains and went to the Portland International Rose Garden.

And the Japanese Garden.  We also popped into Hanna Anderson to buy Jules a swimsuit, which I had forgot to pack.  Here are the results:

Meanwhile, back at the fountain.

Why don't we have these in our town, Mommy? Good question!

The fountains continuously fill, pause, drain, and then refill.  This helps keep the water clean and it's fun.

Starting to fill...

Draining….

And full.  These fountains were truly the highlight of our time in Portland.  And there's more than just this one.  And when the kids are tired, you can plunk them in the double stroller, where they might both fall asleep so you can duck into the Deschutes Brewery a few blocks away and enjoy a late afternoon lunch and a little beer.

Hood River, OR

After our time in The Dalles, we drove back to the greener side of Oregon and went to a sunflower festival at Rasmussen Farms in Hood River.

This post may be sub-titled "I want a house in Oregon." Or " A Lot of Sunflowers."

I want a cute little house tucked into these hills.

We had a hard time keeping track of the girls - they kept disappearing into the sunflowers!

It's somewhat washed out in this picture, but the view of Mt. Hood from this farm was stunning in person.

In addition to acres of sunflowers and vegetables, there was a Wizard of Oz themed corn maze.  My pictures didn't turn out well because of the strong sun overhead and the shadows from the corn, so this is all I got.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Last year we had a big house party for my mom's birthday.  This year we took it mobile to Santa Barbara and Los Olivos for wine tasting at Byron.  We all met at the Hotel Indigo in the Funk Zone and then boarded a limo bus.  Up the 101 freeway we zipped, bouncing along, drinking Prosecco, eating popcorn, listening to Bob Dylan, and catching glimpses of the Pacific Ocean, until we arrived in Los Olivos.   

It was a sunny, cool fall day.  

The Byron Tasting Room has a private space that is perfect for a birthday party.  They let us bring our own food and decor.  So we did.

These pressed sandwiches helped soak up all the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir we drank. 

My partner in crime.

My mom's partners in crime.



Here's the birthday girl!

Mom and Ellen.

My brother.

 This picture makes me happy.  But we quickly bored of sentiment and found some props.

Iain and Mary.

Ellen and Karil.

Tony, Ginny, Tim, Brandon, Dan and Iain.

Debby, what is your secret to always taking a fantastic photo?

Brandon's dad; pinky up!

Drinking and eating is serious biz.

Sisters!

Presents!

Mom, with Susie and Linda.

Rosemary and Brandon.

Dan just loves these wine tasting events.

Group shot.  By now we were all feeling a little blurry.  Apparently, so was the camera.  It was so wiped out it forgot to take pictures while we had birthday cake in Santa Barbara.  And I think it fell asleep during the nice dinner my Uncle Tim hosted.  Come on camera - step up your game!

Happy Birthday Mom!  I love you!