Bay Area 4th of July Reunion

Even though we haven't made it home yet since the move, we have managed to see lots of people we love! 4th of July was another fabulous time. Our friends Jimmy & Kelly are from the Livermore area, outside of San Francisco, and group of 6 planned a trip down for the 4th of July so we drove up to meet them. We managed to make a 4 day weekend out of it, which made the 5.5 hour drive long but totally worth it. Jimmy's parents hosted (like teenagers, on the living room floor again!) and cooked fabulous meals for us pretty much non-stop. We spent a lot of time in the pool, reading and relaxing, had an awesome 4th celebration at Kelly's mom's place in the vineyard, did some wine tasting out in the valley, and made a day trip into SF for a good bit of beer tasting, food, and such. It was totally amazing to get to spend 4 days with good friends again and see a fun new area.

SF outing:

4th in the vineyard

spikeball. the new thing..

Matt, Kenz, David, Cat, Kelly, Jimmy, Emily, Brad

Fall in the PNW

A few weeks back we embarked on a day of random local adventures with L&V.
When I had texted her the night before 'Salmon Days' I was 100% kidding, but she jumped on it, and next thing I knew, I found myself back in my hometown of Issaquah, at Salmon Days - which is a sort of fair/fall festival/salmon spawning celebration. I'm embarrassed to admit I've been featured in the parade numerous times throughout my life. Anyways, our two hours there mainly consisted of us not pretending to be our ages.
Human Hamster Balls was event #1. There were tons for 5-10 year olds in line with their moms, and when Matt went up to the person running the event to ask if there was an age limit the lady replied 'no, nobody's too young'. Matt was like um...upper age limit? I'm asking for me...

 (V)

 (V)

There we witness the peculiur spectacle of 'Dock Dogs' (dogs seeing how far they can jump). And Val and & I had a run on the 'Cliff Hanger'. We had an elephant ear, and called it a day in Issaquah.

 (V)

 (V)

 (V)

Making our way north, we stopped at Minea Farms for a Cider tasting and bought some spiced apple cider.

Then at Chateua St. Michelle, we thought about doing a wine tasting, but ended up just buying a bottle to sit outside and enjoy the awesome October t-shirt weather.

 (V)

 (V)

 (V)

Then...we were off the Woodinville Whiskey for a tasting and tour. The tour was just over an hour long - which could have been wayyy too long, except the guy was actually pretty funny and quite informative. It was totally free so - definitely would recommend it if you're in the area and looking for a rainy day activity.

 (V) 

 (V)

After that, one last stop at Project V Distillery, for another quick tasting and chat with their delightful and quirky owners.

Then it was back to our place for a BBQ and pumpkin carving. Fun!