Tennessee

This was our first family vacation - Uber and I have spent every other vacation visiting family- not that that is a bad thing our family happens to live in some awesome places. This trip is the farthest I've ever visited into the 'middle' of the states, I've been all over the coasts but the furthest inland before this was Atlanta.... which isn't saying much! 

It was very pretty - and we saw a LOT of it! We logged a little over 1800 miles this trip and Micah was awesome about it. 

The first full day we were there was raining so we got to know the area we were staying in. Which just happened to be where the largest tree house is... I think it was somewhere over 6000 sq ft... and creepy as all get out. 

 This is the less creepy side of the monstrosity. It's being built by a priest and the place could totally have a horror movie filmed in it

 Group shot at the top - to the left you can just make out the end of Jesus mowed into the lawn with a huge cross

 In addition to a church/cathedral-ish area there were a good 20 of these carved people hanging out. It definitely made you a little worried in a few place whether you would make it out again. 

 I am not sure I would say I recommend it but if it is raining and you have nothing better to do it's definitely special!

 We spent a day hiking (2.5-3 miles) in Fall Creek Falls. Very pretty.

 It claimed to have the highest fall east of the Rocky Mountains. I am sure in the spring these falls are a bit more treacherous but we had a blast climbing all over them  

Here we are at the 'biggest' fall

 Millikan's Overlook- reminded me of a mini Yosemite 

 Great Smokey Mountains (hills) National Park this was a nice relaxing day.  We spent most of the day driving Cades Cove Loop- the scenery was gorgeous. And just did a small 2 mile hike which I wont bother you with pictures of. 

 We did the loop because I was told we would see bears- and we did! We saw the bottom right one first he was a cub! I totally wanted to pet him! (haha) we drove right under him- which is why its a terrible pic but he was only 10-15 feet above us. Then the top right was next I would say he was a teenager and a good 35-45 ft up a tree. We were exiting the loop when the guy on the left decided to walk by. He was big! 

 The last hike we did was 5.5 miles (it totally did us in) we went all the way up almost into Kentucky to Big South Fork National Park they have twin stone arches- here is Micah and me under the larger of the two

 Micah waiving to the horses. It's the first time he took notice of a larger animal... this is the distance at which he decided he wanted to be friends with them.

 This is how Micah hiked. 

 This is me at mile 4 of the never ending hike... it was serious... we were climbing up and over boulders, we could barely move the next day!

Ok well this wraps up our vacation- not sure everyone would see this as a vacation- but we had a blast. I am almost done catching up- sorry these posts have been more to catch our family up then anything else!

Napa

So for the last little bit of our mini trip we drove through Napa on our way back to Sacramento. It was a lot to pack in but I am glad we did it and really want to go back to this area again... I wish I realized how close all of this was to me when I lived there... hmmm...  

 First we stopped at the Oakville Grocery for brunch- this place is a must it's right on the St Helena Highway, the food is fast and ridiculously delicious. They have picnic tables in the back next to a vineyard or you can have picnic baskets packed and take them with you.... to where ever... Plus they have a coffee bar which was very very necessary to keep our energy up!!

 I really wanted to tour a winery while we were there- but not a kitschy tourist trap kind- so on a recommendation from my aunt we went to Domaine Carneros which was seriously beautiful. And I would totally recommend. It's owned by the Taittinger's (a French wine family famous for their champagne) and is a certified organic winery specializing in sparkling wine and Pinot Noir.

 It was really neat to learn about the process of making sparkling wine. Next trip I will need recommendations for a traditional winery. The only bummer is I didn't get to bring home a wine barrel... yes I was really planning on it...

 Here's the monkey looking all cute. We found a grassy area for him to run around in before the tour.

 This picture KILLS me what is up with that face?

Micah thoroughly enjoyed the vacation. He's been a bit bummed about not having someone play with him constantly since we've been home.

Playing catch up

Well I guess I took a little unannounced vacation, things were busy around here so blogging just didn't happen. But we were having a lot of fun! So to catch you all up here's what we've been up to.

On memorial day presidents day (one of those days- thanks kelly) we took Micah on his first bike ride.

He loved it!

He met his Great Grandpa

We took Micah on his first weekend getaway and ran down to Orlando for a weekend. He did fantastic. The nights were a little rough but overall it was a great first trip. 

He slept through a lot of it.

Micah turned 5 months old

I can't believe how fast he is growing! It rather ridiculous. 

He had some Grandma time

Some Daddy time

Crazy Uncle Beau time

Beau and Micah showed up to worship dressed the same... I will love this forever! Unfortunately Micah left his shades in the car...

Grandpa's hard work finally paid off he rigged up a zip line for Micah in the back yard... which he, Matt and Beau have been playing on (and maybe mom and me) We (Mom and I) finally found time to make a safe swing for Micah. I searched online and found a design I felt comfortable with and we copied it (with improvements of course)

Micah spent over an hour playing in it and never fussed we finally took him out because it was getting cold but I have a feeling this is going to be a favorite all summer! This child has no fear- we are in so much trouble!

And now you are caught up to yesterday. I have a bunch of video but that will have to wait for later. I have a house to clean!

Baby M's Shower

My amazingly awesome Aunt was kind enough to throw me a shower while I was back. This is the same Aunt who was kind enough to let me use her house for Uber's and my wedding. It was a ton of fun. I just wanted to show you the lovely spread and decorations.
Raspberry Lemonade.... yum!

Do you see that elephant garland?!? Gorgeous!

Here's me with the hostess's. (From left to right my Aunt Sherie, me, Grandma, and Aunt Rhonda)

And we can't forget my cousin Corrie. She had to leave a little early but she also helped with the shower. Isn't she adorable? She is just graduated from Monterrey and in another semester will have all of her teaching credentials done! Uber's Mom and I. I am so glad she got to be at a shower. I had so much fun getting to spend time with Ubers parents!

Here's a bump picture... courtesy of my Uncle Doug.

I'll show you some of the gifts a little later!

If you go to San Francisco....

I spent 3 days in San Francisco with Uber... they consisted of catching up on rest in the morning, meeting him for lunch and then bumming around waiting for him to get off so we could go explore... nothing in particular... just what every we came upon... probably not the best way to go about it but it was no stress and worked for us. No plans, no expectations, no frustrations.
I really enjoyed the Ferry Building Market Place. Which reminded me of a clean more expensive version of Pike's Place Market in Seattle... I like them both... but I had to resist the urge to buy things at this one... darn limited packing space!
Ok this is just to be mean to Uber... and to make me laugh. We had a fantastic lunch at Ferry Plaza Seafood and I was 'bugging' him trying to figure out the camera.... he should have thought about that face before making it!

The Bay Bridge and Treasure Island

Isn't he adorable in his little uniform? I should have thought to have someone get our picture together... as I am pretty sure that he will never be talked into getting into this uniform again! Our evenings consisted of public transportation and a LOT of walking. Which was a blast I don't think I have ever hurt as bad as I did after 3 days of walking there.

Turning around the cable car at the Powell/Market Turntable.

I can't even imagine trying to walk these hills, but it makes a pretty picture.

Alcatraz was on our list for this trip but we found out after a very long walk to the ferry terminal that they were sold out for the entirety of my trip there... we had no idea that we should have gotten our tickets in advance... everyone else we talked to seemed to find this weird too... but regardless if this is something you want to do while you're visiting here's your warning. We really didn't care either way so we had no problems about skipping it and headed off to my only must see for the trip.

The Golden Gate Bridge. I've been to San Francisco a lot and had yet to actually make it anywhere near this bridge, so I am happy to say I have now checked that off!

Alcatraz from afar

Here's Ubers and my go to restaurant. I know there is a lot of good food in San Fran but we usually come here when we get the chance to visit. If you go get the Tirimisu.... amazing!

Since we had nothing in particular planned we went up to the Coit tower one evening. There is a bus that takes you to the top of this hill... a bus that we couldn't seem to find a stop for... which was ridiculously irritating considering we kept watching buses come down from the tower and never saw a single one heading up there... so since we were so close we decided to walk... ahem....this may look like no big deal but this hill is so steep that cars are only allowed to park on a 90 degree angle to the curb. Uber was kind enough to pull me up half of it.

The views from the top are gorgeous. But I would say don't bother to pay to go up into the tower unless it's an absolutely clear day. We went ahead a did since we were there but it was rather pointless since the fog had rolled in we could actually see more from the base of the tower than the top.

I would recommend at least one full day devoted to Golden Gate Park. We almost went here instead of the coit tower and it would have definitely been more worth our time. We spent a few hours bumming around here on my last day and it was gorgeous. Beautiful walking parks and there are quite a few museums/gardens/conservatory...etc. to chose from. We just went for all the free stuff since we were having to drive back to Sacramento that night and didn't have time to do more.

Sherie trying to coax one of the turtles to come over.

Uber with an uncomfortable statue...

It was fun to wander around a 'real' city again. It did take a while to get used to it I didn't expect it to be quite as daunting as it was... of course usually I am with a group of people so this was really the first time I did any wandering by myself!