A Week In Wine Country

Even before we left we were creating memories, and getting neckrest-ready!

Less than a week, technically, but so much happened it felt like a month at our idyllic Napa country farmhouse. Each day was filled with both some of the most wonderful routines matched with some new and different experiences. So many selfies along the way.

And an obligatory picture of the kids at the end of a vineyard row.

 

Some of the more mundane events were the things around the farm. Chores, in a way. The kids took on the role of tending to our chicken flock, to make sure they would give us tasty eggs each day. One of the jobs was a walk up the road to harvest some wheat (basically the weeds growing in the ditch along the road). It worked, because each morning (and several times throughout the day) the kids would go out to check the egg production. 

 And picking fruit off the trees in the yard.

 

And games of bacci ball in the court in the backyard.

Or walking in the evening up through the vineyards for a sword fight using some other type of weed we would pull from the ground. The most wonderful way to end the day, it became our standard way to end the day, catching the beautiful sunset over the mountains to the West.

 

At one point I was having such a great time on the front porch sipping wine and listening to music that I didn’t want to go out back when Levi asked. But it just seemed a shame to let the opportunity go to spend this kind of time with the kids. I was reminded of an argument I overheard between my parents many years ago, where my dad was telling my mom that he was too tired to play with us. My mom wasn’t having it and said he didn’t need to really do anything except just be with us. That was it. From that memory on the trip became about these kind of memories with the kids. It was also then that I realized that the point of making these memories isn’t to make them for me, but the memories are really for the kids.

The other reality sinking in is that in about three years there will be a few years where these kids are unlikely to enjoy each others' company as much, nor will they enjoy the company of parents as much. Hence the larger percentage than normal of pics with both of those kids. They really were inseparable for most of the trip. 

One of the special moments of the trip was a family bike ride on the Napa bike trail up you Yountville. It was about 15 miles in total but Levi wailed on it. And Eva was the trooper in the trailer bike, riding behind dad and peddling pretty much all the way (except when we were coasting or she needed a break). She said many times along the ride it was the best day or her entire life. Her is she is beaming at lunch at the halfway point.

Another special moment became the bee stings that Eva and I shared at one of the wineries we visited. This pic captures some very distinctive shadows in the vineyard, and another gets Eva climbing a tree. It was a few minutes later, lounging in the front vineyard that we got a little too close to a beehive and they told us they weren’t happy about it.

Another vineyard had a dreaded tram that took us up through the air. Eva loved it. Levi was a bit more apprehensive…

So many wineries… One of the most amazing was a Vietnamese-owned one, not more than 300 feet from our house. Here is a still frame from a slow mo movie Levi took of dad at yet another winery, and Alexis at still another winery that is about a thousand feet from our house.

Then a day in San Francisco to have a lunch in Chinatown and some play time in North Beach. And to capture the TransAmerica tower, ala the Rifle Tower in Paris. A little trickier this time since we were so close to the tower in this case. We think we found Aunt Cass' cafe and apartment, but it was now a karaoke bar. Between this and the Golden Gate bridge, and everything else, Eva exclaimed "Everything here is so famous!"

One of the other special moments and routines of the trip was were on the front porch doing gymnastics and various dancing and singing. Eva came up with a whole show, and her special song entitled “I Wonder.” Basically a song where she says “I wonder…” with various topics thrown in after the statement, about 4 minutes long.

Eva and Alexis would have many challenges to push each other, another one of the many routines hanging around the farmhouse. That and evening dance parties.

And sometimes we’d just sit and sip wine in the sunset…

For play, we got into a nice habit of stopping by a playground in Napa after going out for dinner. A nice place with some good swinging potential, and a great space for yoga.

 

We saw many dogs along the way. Here we meet Ally in the square in Healdsburg. She is kissing Eva, but may be whispering something to Levi.

We also lost a member of our extended family this week, when we said goodbye remotely to another Ally/Indi. The only dog to ever put Cole in his place. 

The summary of the trip, as told by future birthday girl Eva, showing off the bacci ball trophy she picked for me... Good times.