San Fran/Napa - Day 2

Day 2 - we woke up in San Fran and packed our bags to head to Napa Valley for the weekend!

Adam and I had breakfast in our hotel and this was our view, incredible!  I read the newspaper and he read the news on his phone - it was so peaceful, just a little different than breakfast time at home. ;)  A perk to Adam traveling = not only were our flights paid for with miles, our hotel room was paid for with points and breakfast was included - woo hoo!

Kyle picked up our ride for the weekend - a 15 seater passenger van! - and we headed to Muir Woods for the morning.

Tanya was solo until later in the afternoon as John was working in San Fran.  And yes, Maggie are wearing the same scarf…the popular leopard print Stella & Dot scarf that has been retired but I will never part with!  On another note - I am pretty sure Adam and Kyle could be twins, especially in this pic…sorry Mags!

 The redwoods were incredible!

 It was so pretty and so quiet.

 After Muir Woods, we headed back to Sausalito for lunch and early happy hour…it's always happy hour on vacation, right?  This is the view of San Fran from Sausalito.

It was such a cute town!

 Our driver - very patient with the backseat drivers.

 The back of the van…we sent this to Aaron and Cami telling them that they were missing out.  Little did Joyce know, they were already at our house in Napa waiting on us ;).

We arrived at our house, opened up some wine and toasted to the weekend!  We finally filled Joyce in on the plans for the weekend - no more secrets!!  

San Francisco - Surprise 60th Trip!

These vacation posts are so overdue but I have been totally overwhelmed by the amount of pictures and how to organize them!

Adam's family (minus Joyce) has been planning a surprise trip for her 60th birthday for over a year and a half…that's a long time to keep a secret!  Somehow we managed to pull it off.  We didn't tell her she was going on a trip until about 4 days before and even then she didn't know where she was going or who was going with her.  The morning of the trip, the McCormacks and Zicks surprised her by showing up for car ride to the airport.  So fun!  They told her the boys couldn't make it work…they are easy to throw under the bus ;).  

Well, the next morning Adam and I were on a plane to San Fran!  We kept up with their itinerary by texting the girls.  We hid out in an ice cream shop and totally surprised Joyce, it was awesome!

 On the plane!  Kid free for the next 5 days - HUGE thanks to my family for taking such awesome care of my kiddos while we were gone.  

 I love the streets of San Francisco.

The moment of the surprise!

 Talk about crazy timing…I was at a bar in San Francisco watching my KC Royals play the SF Giants in the World Series!  I met my sorority sister and good friend for happy hour - so fun to see her in her city!

 We went out for Mexican and to watch world series game.

Fireball!

 Little did she know there were a couple big surprises left in the trip!

It was a fun first day!

Black Friday starts NOW!

Stella & Dot's Black Friday SALE started yesterday and it is awesome!  So awesome that a few pieces have already sold out!  The pieces on sale are being retired so once they are gone, they are gone for good.  In other words, if you want it, get it now!  You can see them all here, http://www.stelladot.com/shop/en_us/sale/sale-all.  

Yes!  The wild hearts scarf is on sale for $35.40!

If you purchase thru this shopping link, http://www.stelladot.com/shop/en_us/sale/sale-all,  you will be entered to win the hostess rewards, aka free jewelry credits from the online show!

 Lots of bags!  The La Totale is my best selling bag.  The Tia bags are cross body and the strap clips off to be a clutch.  

 The Courage bracelet makes a great gift for all ages!  It would be so cute inside the wild hearts pouf.

 Details on the Getaway bag, also on sale in a red ikat print.

 The La Totale bag

 LOVE!

 There are cute $24 pearl studs that match the bracelet.

This bangle with the pop of green is on sale for $29.40!

If you spend $50, you can get any or all of these at 1/2 off!  That Phoenix pendant!

Spend now, save later!  For every $25 you spend now you get $25 off a $50 order the first week of January!

Get them before they are gone! I am happy to help with your order, call or email me ash4545@hotmail.com, 816.803.0727.

ps- just updated the sibling love post with a couple more pics from today :)

Sibling Love

There is nothing better than watching these kids of mine interact and see their relationships grow.  And no, it's not all pretty - there is plenty of arguing and I know that will continue but the good moments make it totally worth it.

 We had put the kids to bed and were in our bed watching Scandal.  We always go check on them (bed time stalling tactic perfected by our children) a couple times after we put them down.  However, some nights Laney gets out of bed and goes to Cooper's room.  We know because we hear her run across the hall, shut the door and lock it :).  We usually let them be for a little bit because we know exactly what they are doing, always reading.  It's hard to be mad about that!

 These two are starting to play together more.  This particular morning they were wrestling and Pippi wasn't backing down!

 Not sure the story behind this one, Adam took it while I was gone.

My favorite Jayhawks!!!  The big kids continue to be so good with Pippi, they are such a big help to me whether it's grabbing a diaper or entertaining her in the car.

Well, I originally put this post together last night/today.  Then tonight a couple more sweet sibling moments that I wanted to include.

 She was begging for food while I made her plate so Coop fed her his applesauce.

 Of course Laney had to join in.

The feedings got a little aggressive and we had to intervene (rescue Pippi).

Since it wasn't a school night, they wanted to sleep in the same bed.  They have tried this before and Cooper usually gets annoyed with Laney talking and asks her to leave.  It took them 2 hours of reading and talking, very quietly, but they finally fell asleep :).

Stomach virus and Laney's 1st trip to Allen Fieldhouse!

How do these 2 things go together?  Well, one of Adam's friends graciously gave us his tickets to an exhibition game at Allen Fieldhouse.  We were so excited to take the kids but hadn't told them yet.  I was in the car line to pick up the kids from preschool on Tuesday when Cooper's teacher came to my car.  She kindly told me that Cooper had just gotten sick in the car line and was in the bathroom.  Ugh.  I went in and picked up that poor boy who had vomited all over the hallway and was then having diarrhea in the bathroom (is that tmi??).  Poor poor Coop was miserable.  When I got Piper out of her crib on Monday morning she had thrown up at some point in the night and it was all over her and her crib.  I was hoping whatever she had was going to stay contained to herself.

Unfortunately him and I were out for the game…if you know me and Coop, this was the ultimate heartbreak.  He felt so miserable that he really didn't care that he wasn't going.  However, the party must go on and we sent Dad and Laney to the game.  They took Rusty, Aaron and Cash with them.

 She was looking the part in her cheerleader uniform.

 Think she was happy to be there with her Dad?? 

 They had incredible seats, happy for them - sad for me.

 Adam taking pictures from the front and Aaron following them taking pictures :).

They came home and both climbed in bed with me.  She said her favorite part was the cheerleaders and the food :).  The next day she told my mom she went to a baseball game…oh Laney, you have a lot to learn.

The stomach virus continued as she greeted me the next morning with hands full of vomit.  :(  However, that was it from her.  She played all day and never got sick again.  It hit Adam on Thursday, a mild case though and I somehow escaped it this time!!!