Life in Rewind: Paso Robles

Back to trying to catch up on what we've been up to lately.


It seems as though we always have visitors at our house, which we love, but truly its really nice to get away sometimes.  Especially to a place that they make your bed for you every morning and your kids can't crawl into bed with you.


Thankfully, Papa came down back in February for almost two weeks so the Husband and I could get a much needed parents only vacay.


Like most of these trips, we headed out to California.  And of course used the Husband's miles to book first class tickets and enjoyed comfy chairs, a decent breakfast, and the coordinating drinks.

Once we landed, we hopped in the rental car and hit the road -- only this time, we weren't going North to Napa or Sonoma, we went South...


...and drove the Hwy 1 along the coast making various pit stops along the way.

Until we got to our destination for the first two nights -- Carmel by the Sea.  Once we checked in, we grabbed a glass (or two) of wine at the hotel happy hour, played a bit of backgammon (after re-learning how to play) and then headed out for dinner.  As it was already dark before we left and we both were a bit clueless about our whereabouts, we got about a block away before deciding to circle back and just eat at the restaurant attached to our hotel.


We woke up fairly early the next morning, grabbed a quick breakfast in the lobby and then headed out for a hike.  We had originally hopped to head to some of the many trails in Carmel by the Sea, but sadly because of all the recent rain, we learned that many of them were closed.  Thus, we took the opportunity to wander around the town and along the coast, and even though it wasn't what we'd initially planned, we weren't disappointed.

One "benefit" of having a change of plans was that we suddenly had additional time to fill so we headed into Monterey and went whale watching. 

Overall, it was a super cool experience -- but would have been slightly better had it not been freezing and had I had one less glass of wine the night before.

Speaking of wine, after showering, we quickly hit the Carmel Walking Wine tour and tasted some surprisingly yummy wines!



And after tasting at four wineries, we realized that we hadn't eaten anything and since it was just before 4, we headed out to Clint Eastwood's restaurant for yet-another-drink and some appetizers.

Can't complain about the view, can you?

Then it was off to dinner and an early night to bed! 

We woke up the next morning and decided to wander around again before leaving town.  This time we wandered onto Pebble Beach Golf Course.  Not sure if we were suppose to be here or not (my guess is no) but the Husband was super excited to say that he's been on the course and get his picture snapped!

We then walked the beach again and this crazy many actually went into the frigid water. 

And after our walk, we packed our stuff up and loaded into the car to drive even further south to Paso Robles.  We had initially planned to drive Hwy 1 the whole way, but just like the hike plans, this was derailed because of all the rain.  Total disappointment, but guess we'll just have to come back!

Day 1 in Paso was spent trying wine at Justin and Dauo wineries and then a yummy dinner right in town. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of this day!

The next morning we got up fairly early and headed out to Cambria for an actual hike!

We made it to the end (let's be honest, other than the muddy puddles it was fairly easy) and would have stayed a bit longer, but for as the Husband was about to climb down the rocks and get a picture closer to the water, he realized that he lost his phone somewhere along the trail.  So we quickly headed back and luckily found it pretty close to where we began and only inches from a muddy puddle.

Although we would have loved to have hiked more, we really didn't want to waste anymore time so off to the wineries we went -- first stops included Epoch and Thatcher before stopping at Opolo.

We had initially planned on stopping in, getting a glass of wine and some pizza and then heading back to the hotel to change.  However, because of construction, we found the tasting bar before we found the pizza...and needless to say, we didn't have any pizza and had way more pours than what's on the standard tasting menu.  Clearly, we joined the club as this may have been our favorite stop of the day, if not the trip.

After a quick shower, we hopped in an uber and did a few more tastings.  The first was at Turley (where we are already members) followed by Niner.  At this point, we were both done with wine tasting, tired, and ready to see our babies.





Overall, it was  a great trip and we'll definitely be back.  And we are so blessed and grateful that Papa is able to come and spend the time not only with us, but with the girls!



Hop to It

Y'all Easter is only a week away. 




Although given that Littlest Miss is starting to understand a calendar and the ordering of events it seems as though it should have come an gone already as she's been saying "Easter's coming" for at least four weeks.  Yes, its the truth, but still.




But regardless of Littlest Miss's declarations, we hadn't done much to prep or celebrate Easter (except for attending Ash Wednesday services), until now.




I think we did enough Easter activities in one weekend to make up for the last thirty something days.


First, we kicked off the weekend with one of our favorite dinners: make your own pizza.  I love it because (a) the girls eat it and (b) it keeps them occupied and the rest of my house clean for the duration of dinner prep.

After dinner, we headed to a neighbors house for a bit before hitting the sheets early for our busier than normal Saturday: gymnastics, Eggstravaganza at our Church, and soccer.  All before one.


The Eggstravaganza is one of my favorite events -- toddler friendly egg hunts, games, story time, inflatables and a petting zoo.  Seriously, heaven for my littles.

Think they had fun?




Then it was off to soccer where we once again tried to get Little Miss to run.  and score a goal. 


Once again, we weren't successful -- but at least Littlest Miss and I had fun on the sidelines and Little Miss at least smiled for her "team" picture [it's in quotes because they legit take individual pictures of all the girls and then photo shop them into the team picture]

After some Bar Method and grocery shopping, it was off to a neighbors for dinner.  Sadly, I didn't get very many pictures of the girls -- they were too busy playing, while the parents were too busy talking -- but nevertheless we had a blast.  So much so that the decorate your own ice cream for desert was not the highlight of the night

Then the Easter festivities continued Sunday with Palm Sunday Church Services, a stop at the "Petting Zoo" afterwards, and then a neighborhood Egg Hunt followed by dinner with friends.

They really wanted to pet the donkey.  But apparently the donkey was being a bit of an A!S after being ridden on through the church as part of the Palm Sunday service, so this is as close as they man in-charge of the donkey would let them get.

Just some of the kids in the neighborhood.  One of the many reasons why we love our 'hood.

Cup of Tea

To say that I am NOT a morning person is a lie.  If anything, I am the complete opposite.  A true night owl.



I can stay up until the wee hours of the night easily.  But getting up in the morning is a completely different story.

Most days, I'd be lucky if I got up before the girls (despite numerous alarms).  Not only did this lead to frantic mornings, but it lead to stressful days as I'd be lucky to get into the office before 9.  And although my current job doesn't require a ton of overtime, getting in that late definitely doesn't mean that you are getting out early.  Which meant:

Leaving the office around 5:15

Sitting in traffic and praying that I made it to daycare by 6:30

Racing home in an attempt to feed and bath the girls and get them to bed at a reasonable time (and the lack of routine and mommy time throughout the day meant they weren't asleep until at least 9 every night)

And then I'd still have to workout, prep for the next day, clean, squeeze in my 20 minutes of me time (this, its legit y'all) and then go to bed for the night.

It was truly exhausting.  And made our already busy life seem that much busier.

But did you catch that...I said was.  See after having to get my Aunt to the airport at 6:30 AM for a 7:40 AM flight two Mondays ago, something clicked.  And knock on wood, I've been at the office by 7:00 AM every since.  Which means that I don't get to see the girls unless they happen to wake up before I go, but it does make the rest of the day run so much smoother.

Especially on days like today. 

Where I left at 4:00 PM, and despite heavier than normal traffic, was home by 5:00 PM.  I changed into yoga pants and headed to the girls school where we proceeded to head to their favorite park for nearly an hour.  Think they had fun?

And now, its 9:30 PM and they've been asleep for over an hour.  Not only did I get to spend quality time with my littles, but I have actual me time.  To do whatever I need to do for me.  And that is something that makes my heart happy.

So is getting up at 5:30 my cup of tea?  Not really.  But it's so, so, so worth it.

Life in Rewind: Loli & Pop Visit

Once again, I am behind.  Like seriously behind.  But because we've actually had several house guests (aka lots of fun and activities) I don't want to just skip those weekends and pretend that they didn't happen.



Thus, I figure I'll do a handful of posts to capture everything that I missed: Life in Rewind.


First up, our recent weekend with Loli and Pop!


Sadly, I didn't get any pictures from their first night in town -- but we had fun watching March Madness, eating dinner (and playing) at Central Market and then just hanging out.  After a much needed night of sleep (shorted one at that), we were off for a typically busy Saturday


Donuts. Gymnastics. and Soccer.  Duh.


Although I think Little Miss had more fun blowing dandelions after the game than playing (I mean standing) soccer. 

Side note, we've tried everything to get her to run (even bribing her with Toys R Us trips)  and nothing seems to work.  Thus, this season may be the last of our soccer weekends for the foreseeable future.  Any suggestions on how to get her to enjoy it would be greatly appreciated!

Then it was time to head home to grab a quick bite of lunch, shower and head out for the afternoon.  On the agenda: a trip to the Fort Worth Water Gardens and then to Casa Manana to see The Little Red Ridinghood. 

The girls LOVED the water garden.  Especially the "Mountain" and the "Bowl"  When they saw the "Mountain" they literally took off running. I laughed, followed close behind and tried to snap some iPhone pics.  As soon as the husband realized what they were doing, he freaked and bounded up after them.  They all survived (clearly) and made it to the top!



Then it was off to the "Bowl" (unlike the Mountain I don't think this is really its name).  And the girls were obsessed with it.   The Husband and Littlest Miss made it down about 3/4 of the way and then turned back, whereas Little Miss insisted that we make it to the bottom and go all the way around.  So we did. And not gonna lie, this momma was a bit scary.  Not only because you are surrounded by water but also by crowds and crowds of people. 

However, Little Miss and I did it.  And in honesty, I was so proud of how brave she was!  Sadly, Littlest Miss at this time started to cry because now she really wanted to do it -- but given that we had to get to the play and more people kept coming, she didn't get her wish.  Next time for sure!



For anyone in the DFW area, we highly recommend Casa Manana.  For the girls Christmas gift this year, we got the family season tickets and have enjoyed each show so much that we plan on buying them again next year.  They truly do an amazing job on each show -- and they are the perfect length for littles, entertaining for all ages, and even serve adult beverages on the chance your child is misbehaving and you need a liquid relaxer :)

The girls actually fell asleep on the car ride home (at 6:45 without dinner nonetheless) and slept until Sunday morning.  Thus, the adults grabbed some take out and relaxed at the house. 

Sunday morning, after deciding to skip church, we headed to the park and back down to Fort Worth as we were all really wanting to try the Woodshed Restaurant. 

We had initially tried to go Saturday evening after the play, but after being told it was a 3 hour (yes, 3 hours y'all) wait, we sadly got back in the car and head home.  However, it looked like a fun place that would entertain my children and serve the adults yummy food.  Thus, we tried again.  And let's just say we were all (even the girls) happy with that decision.

Great food, sand and toys for the girls, live music, and a beautiful Sunday day.  What more could you ask for.  My one "compliant" is that for being as kid-friendly as a venue as they were, there wasn't a kids meal and wasn't really anything that my kids would remotely eat.  Thankfully though they had their Sunday brunch and our waiter let me snag a biscuit for each girl and some berries.  Little did they know that my girl could probably eat $25 worth of berries

Girls hanging with Loli

Girls playing in the sand

Just some of our yummy food

The girls and their brunch

Littlest Miss being silly with her berries

Tipping the band and getting their own guitar pics

At the end of the day, it was a great weekend and a great visit with Loli and Pop!  Hope to see you soon (but if not, we'll see you in a few weeks in San Diego!)