mama mia

Mom came to spend her 60th birthday week with me in California!
There were many fun (but poorly documented) activities. Among them were several awesome dinners (including one with the extended family in Pleasanton) and a viewing of Wicked (Wicked, Wicked) in SF (which was sooooooooooooooooooooo goooooooooooooooood).

The trip's grand finale was a fabulous weekend trip to wine country.

Domaine Carneros was our first stop.

We had the champagne taster and the cheese plate. MMMM. Breakfast of champions.

Artesa was the next stop.

They have fancy fountains and sculptures. Ahhhrt and wine are a great combo.

They also have spectacular views.

Next stop: Turnbull.
They have an impressive photography exhibition in their reserve tasting room.

Turnbull's old car (photo for Grandma and Arnie).
Mom joined the wine club here. Free tastings!

We also went to Charles Krug, but sadly, no pictures. On the plus side, Tak joined the wine club there!

We stayed in Calistoga and had a fancy shmancy dinner at Solbar. Here's our hotel, the Carlin Country Cottages:

We got breakfast at this cute diner (with xmas deco) before hitting the Napa outlet mall on the way home! All in all, it was a great trip.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Jackie Robinson Day

April 15 is Jackie Robinson day! We discovered this at tonight's A's game. On Jackie Robinson day all players, coaches, etc. wear the number 42 in honor of Jackie. How exciting.

Tonight's game was not onlyJackie Robinson night, but also the free "sluggie" giveaway! Sweeeeeeet. I forgot to bring my camera to the game, but we had a little sluggie photo sesh afterwards ...

(semi-) serious sluggie face

happy sluggie face

funny sluggie face

the 'BU

This weekend we went to visit our friend Dan in Malibu and it was sooooooooooo awesome! This is his condo ON THE BEACH! (Yes, those are wicker floors. No, they are not fun to walk on.)

Dan on his ocean view balcony.

palm tree party time

beach time woo!

this sad, sleepy seal got stuck on the beach. luckily the life guard was there to rescue it.

surf city, bro

Tak's 80s look (i.e. Alena's shades)

We went tide pooling!

Tak and Alena checkin it out
Dan teaches kids all about this stuff, so he was our expert guide.
(Dan, remind me what we're seeing here.)

It got kind of treacherous as the ocean life got cooler, so my photos dwindled.

beach party. it was a lot like the Malibu Sands summer of Saved by the Bell.

Dan lives right by THE BACHELOR MANSION! OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!

Alena is going to submit this photo the next time she applies to be on The Bachelor. Then she will definitely get it.

We ate this entire jumbo cookie/icecream Pazookie thing at a place called BJ's.

Thanks to our sunburns and a cloudy day, we decided to spend day 2 at the Getty Museum. This museum rules. One of the most awesome museums I've ever been to (and that's saying something).

Cactus garden + LA

Dan the Man in the gift shoppe.

The Getty also has an incredible garden.

Tak's Getty robot pose

We saw this pretty hill on our picturesque drive home.

Springtime Ice Cream

Happy Easter!

We dyed eggs!
(Credit to Ellie for the masterpiece in the center, to John for the pride egg, Lizzie for the heart, and Tak, Benjy & myself for others)