Sonoma Summer

The last few days in Sonoma were a whirlwind of trips to San Franciso and the outlets in Petaluma, bocce ball, dinners, hikes, and hanging out by the pool at Grammy and Pappy's house. We are so lucky to have such wonderful family that lives in such a geographically desirable area - and thank goodness I don't have to pay to live there. It is always a healthy dose of reality when we visit as to how much it costs to try to live there. Shout out to my incredible brother and sister inlaw's who are making it work.

On Sunday during our last week Jim and Rosemary took us to San Francisco for a matinee of Beach Blanket Babylon. I had never been, but had heard about it for years. To make things better, one of the major performers lives in Sonoma. Rosemary taught him in grade school and Jim coached him in JV football. He still goes to their gym and Jim sees him from time to time. Jim called him and he arranged for tickets for us in the VIP section. Before the show, we went to Capp's Corner for lunch - the most inexpensive and delicious meal I have had in California. It was an amazing show. I included a link for the curious: http://www.beachblanketbabylon.com/
It is a musical comedy, performed live, and "zany" is the best adjective I can use to describe it. It also is updated constantly and includes lost of parodies and commentary on current news events. It is the funniest Palin/Clinton impersonations I have ever seen and the Barbara Striesand may me want to wet my pants I was laughing so hard. After the show, some of the cast came to meet us at the front door. It was really special and exciting.

The next day, Grammy and Pappy took the kids to the park to play bocce ball and I went for a run through Sonoma. The kids loved the game and were able to pick it up easily and played very well. That night we went to Franceine and Bill's for dinner. What a gorgeous setting. They live near Glen Ellen and Jack London Park up on a hill. They have beautiful decks where we hung out and ate barbecued salmon. The girls loved playing with their dog and on the hammocks. Madeline only fell out twice.

The next day we headed out to Vallejo for the Six Flags/Marine World Adventure. Stephannie met us there. We had a great time riding the rides and the elephant and seeing the dolphin and killer whale show. Now, for those of you who have been to Sea World in San Antonio, this is NO SHAMU SHOW. This guy's name is Sukah (pronounced sue-kah, not suck-a). He jumps around a little bit and poses some, and gets people wet with his tail. Madeline kept asking where the girls were that were going to dive off of his back (like in San Antonio). She was very disappointed. This show was not as Disney-fied as San Antonio, but was a B- none the less.

The girls and I headed straight to Napa to visit Tony, Caroline and the kids. They just bought a beautiful new house and we were so excited to see it (and them). We headed out to Taylor's Refresher for dinner. The setting was beautiful and the burgers/salads were Delicious. We walked over to Oxbow for ice cream after dinner and hung out for a few minutes before heading back to Sonoma. As we were driving back to Sonoma at dusk, we came up over the head of the valley. The clouds were beginning to spill over the ridge that separates Sonoma from the coast. The clouds were pink in the sunset and it was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. To quote Domini, it was like driving into a painting. I was going about 60 and there was no shoulder, so of course I thought the logical thing to do was stick my iPhone out of the window and try to take a picture while driving. Lets just say it was not one my most brilliant ideas. It is a miracle my phone, my car and my children made it. I did not know why I did not think 60 mph winds would not try to whip the phone right out of my hand, and that I would swerve in my efforts to hold on to the phone, and my kids would scream their heads off when the car almost jerked off the road. So much for my beautiful, serene moment.

The next day we met Julia, Domini, and Stephannie for some shopping in the outlets in Petaluma and had a wonderful time. That night we headed to Marin for a final farewell dinner with the Haver clan.

Yesterday, Jim and Rosemary drove us to Sacramento to the airport and I managed to get my kids and 250 pounds of luggage to Houston. We had five huge bags, each weighing 50 pounds each. The kids were excellent. We got off the plane and headed to the luggage carousel. We rented 2 luggage carts, each manned by my 8 and 5 year old kids and I hauled each bag off of the rounder and onto a cart. When I got them all on, I pushed a cart, and Katherine pushed another. Shout out to all of the sweet and kind men who helped the damsel's in distress yesterday! And thank goodness I am halfway cute and my kids are gorgeous and we looked so pitiful. You see, I had to rent a car to get home and we had to ride a bus from the airport to the car rental place. I had to get my kids, myself, and all of that luggage onto the bus, off the bus, and into a rental car - hence, accepting the kindness of strangers. But we did it! We got home last night!!!

We leave for Caracas in 6 days. Gulp. It is really happening.