Up, Up and Away: Day Five

We started day five with a super exciting hot hair balloon ride just outside of Napa Valley.  We were supposed to go over the valley itself, but due to the foggy conditions, we had to move out of the valley.  What a neat experience, and a great view!  We got up to 3,700 feet, which was both exciting and terrifying!  It's amazing how hot it is up there, we thought it would be chilly, but the heat coming off the burner nearly gave us sun burns!

We're beating the other balloon!

Hot Stuff!

The whole group!

Then, off we went on our wine tour, what a blast.  Our guide Steve was super nice and informative, letting us pick grapes right off the vine at a few vineyards.  We visited 4 different winery's, one so tiny it was literally in a guys house, we had lunch on his back porch!  We had a fun group on our tour, couples from Canada, Philadelphia, Minnesota and even New Zealand.  I drank more red wine than I ever have, and we made some great new discoveries.  Adam decided he like Pinot Noir's, and we have a nice crate of wine to get on the plane with now.  Hopefully, it will make it home with no leaks!

Whetstone Vineyard

Merryvale Winery

Fermentation room at Merryvale

Dinner at Michael Chiarello's restaurant Bottego in Yountville was wonderful, of course more wine to go along!

On the Road: Day Four

We spent Monday driving from Anaheim to San Fran, what a great drive!  We went up the Pacific Coast Highway most of the way, though Malibu, Big Sur, and had dinner in Half Moon Bay, which was yummy! Checked into our hotel and discovered our enormous balcony, sweet!

Hello, Malibu!

Sand on the West Coast, not so pretty, but what a view!

Los Padres National Park

Running Disneyland: Day Three

What a day we had!!  We had a great time running the Disneyland Half Marathon!  Adam came in with a time almost exactly the same as Princess, and I was able to take 6 minutes off my Princess time, even in Minnie ears!  We had some lightheadedness, and some sore knees, but all in all came through just fine. Spent the afternoon recovering with tasty tacos and rum beverages, then back to the room for naps. Dinner was yummy at Catal, and we finished off the day watching the World of Color fireworks from the balcony of our room. Off to San Francisco tomorrow!  

Yes I ran the whole race with those ears!

Mellissa and Adam with their bling

Mmmm, after race cocktails!

Good Morning, Disneyland: Day Two

Woke up at the crack of dawn, but really 9am our time. Peeked out the balcony and what do we see?  All the 10k finishers coming in!  So neat to see all those runners and hear all the cheering!

We spent a great day in Disney's California Adventure all day!  So ready for the race tomorrow!!

A giant, scary ferris wheel!

Adam discovered a new beer, and I discovered sangria is pretty good, when it's white!

The parade went by as we had dinner in the park, what a nice surprise!

A flight of Godiva Liquors, what a nice end to the day

Disneyland: Day One

Arrived, found our way to Disneyland, checked into the beautiful Grand Californian hotel, and off we went to the Expo. I totally forgot Sean Astin was speaking; had I remembered perhaps The Goonies shirt would not have been my choice! Many volunteers tried to haul me off to watch him speak, but we politely declined.  Had a lovely dinner at Steakhouse 55, settling in to have cocktails on our balcony. Happy vacation, off to a good start!

Celebration of Running Done!

We had a great time at Track Shack's Celebration of Running 5k on Saturday, all three of us made it through.  Definitely easier when there is beer and Krispy Kreme's to run toward at the finish line!  Adam set a personal best for his 5k time, 35:11.  Seth and I finished 46:32 and 46:31.  We ran along with Staci Baker from WHMH for a ways, and Seth had his very own cheering squad when we passed a group of Orlando Science Center counselors who were watching the race and recognized him, they cheered him on and that sped him up for a bit!  Here's a pic of us with our finisher medals, Adam and I are ready to conquer the Disneyland Half in 2 weeks!!

Adam, Seth & Mellissa after the race

Sweet Sundae!

Our Sundae 5k in New Smyrna Beach was sweet indeed!  Sadly, Michelle, Jules and Cole were not able to join us as planned, but we soldiered on!  Dad used Jules' number and walked the race, his very first 5k!  Seth did this one solo, and without Adam and I to urge him along, he was slower than molasses, but he finished under his own power so all ended well.  While Seth had his ice cream after the race, none of the rest of us were up to that, so we took the voucher to come back later in the afternoon and had our yummies then.  Our finish times were pretty good considering Adam and I ran the 4 miles to the race, and by the time we started the actual race, it was well into the 80's!  Out of 409 total runners, our times were:
Adam - 35:55 - 201, Mellissa - 35:08 - 191, Seth - 55:34 - 380, and Dad - 50:50 - 346.  Here are a few pics:

Dad approaching the finish line, while Ashton Kutcher's look alike roots him on

Adam, Mellissa & Seth after the race

Practice Makes Perfect

Another Soccer Season Down

Student of the Month

Seth was elected Student of the Month for May, here he is receiving his reward with Principal Pritts