Elysse's baby shower for Anna

I'm beside myself waiting to meet Anna.  Elysse had her first baby shower Saturday.  It's was so nice to see so many people we have had the opportunity to meet over the years.  I had a great day!  Anna received just a few things to start out with.  Keith are you ready for this????  It's comming home in a few hours.

 Harriett, Mutti, Gretchen and sweet Elysse. Mother, daughters and grandmother who I just adore!

 What a sweet group of girls. Some of these girls grew up with Elysse in Midland.

 These 3 girls are all due within a few months.  Dont' you know their daughters will be BFF's.

 And my BFF's.  Thank you for coming dear friends.  I love you dearly.

 Anna, this isn't the best pic of your mom, but I can tell you she is the most lovable, adorable mom you could ever ask for.

Napa / San Fran, Day 5

Today is our last day of vacation and we are trying to make the most of it.  We headed out by foot to conquer a piece of San Fran. A ride on the Trolly Car is our first priority.  It's a little misty and cool for the morning....but here we go.

 We've had our coffee and breakfast sandwich and ready for the world.

 We are making our stops along the way to pick up supplies for our picnic.  San Francisco sourdhough bread was the esential ingredient. Just being silly!

We couldn't find a nice grassy place but we did find some great steps that gave us a view.

BTW...there is wine in those paper cups..Sorry KW.  Two bottles of wine actually!  It turned out to be a great people watching place as well as landscape.  There were several people swimming in the bay, it wasn't that warm.  However at the end of the day, we were all sunburned.

This is what having wine at lunch will do for you!

 We thought of John Ingle the whole time we were at Ghirardelli having our sundae.

It's Easter Sunday and there was a parade and street fair near our hotel. They were having a "Hat" contest.

 We  only found a few unusual characters.

We ended our trip and day at a lovely resturant that was recommened by my friend David Zovod, Absinthe...thanks David for ALL your recommendations.

Napa / San Fran, Day 4

We are off to San Francisco! It has been years since I've been to San Fran and it's still as beautiful, magical and unique as the first time around.
On our way we stopped in Salisalito at a little Thai place for lunch. Camille you will appreciate this camera shot!

When we were ready to leave Chris realized he didn't have his cell phone, look where we found it. We felt fortunate to fine a parking place, so he jumped out to pay, left his cell phone on top of the car and it was still there when we returned.

The Golden Gate Bridge is an amazine piece of sturcture, so majestic.

 San Fran here we come!!!

 We didn't get to tour Alzatraz this trip, but I'm sure we will be back one day soon.

One of Melissa's favorite places is the Palace of Fine Arts.  After making the stop I can see why.

 We found a delightful tapas resturant, Gitane, for dinner within walking distance from our hotel that evening.

We sat outside and it was wonderful.

 Melissa checked out some night life for us after dinner. As one would expect, Melissa struck up a conversation with one of the band members who was from Austin and Atlanta, he gave us his table, one of four in the room!  We didn't stay for the band as it was way past our bed time.  Another fun day/evening.

Napa / San Fran, Day 3

We woke up Friday to another beautiful day of paradise in Napa.  We are off to another day of wine tastings.  Our first stop was Frank Family Vineyards.  The grounds were beautiful but the presentation of the tastings were a little to recorded for me.

Stop number two, The Napa Valley Reserve.  This is were KW and Julie have vines.  The grounds, presentation, tour, lunch and wine were heavenly!  Thank you Julie and KW for setting up the tour, lunch and wine for us. We felt very special.

Standing in front of the Williams vines.

 This was our view while having a lovely lunch.

 Doesn't every ones table look like this for lunch?

 The setting is very casual, elegant casual. Rod you were in our thoughts here.  We know how much you love hanging outside and this place is so you.

There is a beautiful vegetable and flower garden that you walk through when you enter the vineyard.

OK...back to reality and our next tasting of the day, PumpJack. The grounds were OK, the wines good and the presentation terrible!

Lunch and wine is starting to kick in now, so our last stop of the day is Clos Du Val.  We had a very "interesting" lady telling us all about the wines.  Again, not our favorite stop of the day as it seemed very commercial.

After a full day of tastings, we just needed a little down time so we decided to sit out by the fire pit at the hotel with a bottle of viognier and a cheese plate. 

After a well needed nap, we are off to dinner.  We chose a place near the hotel so our driver could enjoy the evening.  I highly recommend Allegria.

Good night Napa, we have some wonderful memories to leave with.

Napa / San Fran, Day 2

We stayed at the beautiful Avia hotel downtown Napa.  The location made it very convenient to walk to dinner at night, which was a huge benefit to Hal. 
Thursday morning Hal had scouted a local place for breakfast, ABC. A wonderful small restaurant with some yummy food.  It's highly recommend that you put food in the belly before all the wine tastings.

What a handsome man and full of joy. 

Chris and Melissa gave us a wine tour on Platypus bus tours.  We highly recommend them.  Great atmosphere, small group of 12 and a delightful tour guide...Rod  We met up with 4 other couples Thursday morning for a day of tasting! 

Our tour guide...Rod .  Like so many people we met in Napa, Rod was a former hi-tech IT guy and gave it up for a more peaceful slower pace lifestyle.

These days all wineries charge for tastings, anywhere from $10 - $70.  Rod lined up several smaller wineries for us to visit which mean you are usually tasting with just your group.  It's a very intimate setting. 

We were greeted at the Ballentine Vineyard with a glass of wine to take with us on our tour....It's 10:30 AM!

 Kim was the Ballentine representative.  Very Knowledgeable, sweet and entertaining.

Our next stop was Lava Vine vineyard.  Joe, the owner gave us his story of how he came about being the  owner of his vineyard.

We had a nice picnic lunch on his patio.  Very relaxing.
Our next stop was the Arger Mattuci vineyard sitting out next to a pool overlooking the vineyards and mountains.

On to our last stop of the day, Hopper Creek.  We have a ton of pics here...so get ready.  Hope you enjoy as much as we did.

Dan was our tour guide.  What a great way to wind up the day!

After our tastings inside, we got to go hang out side on his patio...lovely.

 Now this is living.  No stress here!

Thank you Chris and Melissa for a wonderful day!