California Vacation

Getting back to the grind directly from our flight has kept me in a bit of a whirlwind for a few days, so sorry its taken me a few days to blog the details of MJ and my trip to California, while PJ and Ry were in Ohio and NY.  Although it would have been nice to have spent our vacation time together as a family of 4; by splitting up we got to enjoy our people with a little more focus on them.  We had a great time on Friday and Saturday visiting Uncle Troy, Aunt Sammi, and cousin Stanley in San Jose.  Then Saturday afternoon we were picked up in Aunt Amanda's 2 door mini for some visit time with her and Rizwan in San Francisco. 
We started our trip on a 737 for a 2 hour flight to SJC; cuddling with MJ was a perfect start to the trip. 

On our way!

 When we arrived at SJC, my brother and his family picked me up; I got to sit next to my favorite little girl, Miss Stanny.  From the airport we went directly to dinner at a transit parking lot with over a dozen food trucks.  Foodie Bliss!  T and S had been there before and made some awesome selections.  We sat on 5 gallon buckets, in a parking lot and enjoyed a delicious meal of Asian bun tacos and rice patty port sandwiches.  Stanny said it best by being upset when her Daddy ate the last bite.  

After dinner I got to see T and S's cute rental house.  They did a great job using all the space for toddler comfort while still being very well styled.  After the kids went to sleep, we stayed up until late in the evening chatting.  I really enjoyed the time to see my brother and sister-in-law so happy and comfortable in their environment.  

Saturday morning we had a tasty breakfast of peaches, dutch babies and chicken sausage.  Stanners was so much fun to share my meal with, a little bossy when I was slow to give her more.  Such a personality!  After breakfast we went for a walk around the neighborhood to get a better feel of the area.  It was very pretty and the weather was perfect.  My favorite part of visiting the Hammell's was interacting with Stanley in her house with her stuff and just seeing her joy.  She makes the best faces that we will never capture on camera, so getting to spend some time together and enjoying these faces in person was so perfect.  MJ was such a good boy during our visit, which made my time with Stanley and  her parents extra enjoyable.

My car seatmate!

 Saturday afternoon MJ and I were picked up by Aunt Amanda ready for some adventures.  First adventure was fitting the car seat in stroller into her tiny car.  I wish I took a picture, but you can imagine it was tight.
Our first stop was Sonoma, about two hours north of Troy's house.  MJ took and nap, while Amanda and I got to get caught up.  Once in Sonoma we went to two different wineries and tasted over 10 different wines.  Having a baby during the tasting was not "normal" but as usual MJ slept or smiled the whole time, charming everyone around him.

Hanging at the first winery with Aunt A

 After the wineries, we headed to San Francisco to see Aunt A's place and get some dinner.  MJ had a little trouble waiting for his bottle on the drive to SF, but once we got him a bottle the dude was happy again and even handled a late night meal without any fussing. 

Tuckered out on the air mattress

On Sunday we headed to Tamales Bay for a BBQ Cookout at an Oyster Farm.  On our way to the BBQ we stopped at a bakery - Tartine for some amazing pastries.  We waited in a line for over 30 minutes, but were rewarded with the best morning bun I had ever had (cinnamon, sugar, flaky, buttery pastry goodness).  Tartine kept our bellies happy and full until the BBQ.  The drive to the oyster farm was beautiful, and fun to see landscape outside of SF.  We had an awesome afternoon of hanging with friends outside, while cooking and eating oysters.  The weather was a little cool but perfectly sunny.  After we had enough sun and BBQ smoke we headed once again back to SF for some Sunday evening lounging and a perfectly silly zombie movie, rounding out a quintessential 2 days with my BFF.  

Aunt A, MJ and I at the BBQ

Uncle Riz shucking oysters

Uncle Riz enjoying some MJ cuddles.

 Early Monday morning, Aunt A drove us to the airport, back to reality, after a great weekend of family, friends, and amazing food.  Thank you T, S, A and R!

More MJ cuddles to round out a great weekend