sing like wildflowers
My full and kooky life as a homeschooling mommy to 2 great kids, raising a child with HLHS (Hypolastic Left Heart Syndrome), coping with depression, following Jesus, and being much too camera happy.
recent posts
- Silent Sunday: Teddy signs up for kitchen duty in his new apron: next pic = ai generated pic with hat and spatula
- Will be back soon…
- Teddy wishes everyone a happy and relaxing weekend
- Wordless Wednesday: Ellis, our personal barista. Making matcha drinks for the family
- Silent Sunday: 4-H outreach at Science Palooza
24 responses to “Wordless Wednesday: family outing to Napa for Ellis’ 13th birthday. (Picture heavy post)”
Wow, a teenager! They grow up so quick. I enjoyed all you pics. 😊
Thank you! I can’t believe it myself. Where does the time go?!
Wherever that location is, it looks like a lot of fun!
Oops. Happy Birthday, Ellis! You look very grown-up.
Thank you! It’s unbelievable to me too. She is growing up too fast.
This was Napa, where the wineries are. We went to a castle to tour the grounds and have wine tasting for us and grape juice tasting for the kids!
Oh, what a great idea to have a grape juice tasting for kids! Very family friendly.
It was very family friendly and everyone gets to experience it, despite the age. I didn’t know they would have 3 different types of grape juice tastings for the kids, and they enjoyed it immensely. Our wine server was Italian with a thick accent and we barely understood what he said. lol.
Happy Birthday, Ellis! Such a lovely family having a great time celebrating.
Thank you, Michele!! It was a great outing to spend time together and enjoy the lovely weather we had last week. This week was unexpectedly rainy.
Happy Birthday to Ellis! It looks like a wonderful place for a celebration, and everyone looks wonderfully happy!
Thank you, Linda!! We all had a great time getting away and doing something different for her birthday.
I went to college near Napa. I’d love to take the kids there someday. I’ll have to get the name of the winery you visited with the grape juice tasting! 🍷
You are a California girl!! Where did you go to school? The castle is called Castello Di Amorosa and you get to tour the castle and go down to the wine tasting area. I think your family would enjoy it! We took the self guided tour and that was enough to keep up occupied and learn some cool things about the castle. I wasn’t sure if we were allowed in the area we toured, but it was open and accessible. Elliot was curious to go, so we did and that’s where we saw the torture chamber, jail cells, and the immense barrels with the knights in front. It was right by the gift shop near the bathrooms. You take a right and it leads you into the tunnels. It was dimly lit, so we did get some good scares through that area. You can also do a paid tour, which I think would be interesting too, but that would just take too much time and add more to the ticket prices. ack!
There’s also Sterling Vineyards where you take a cable car to the wine tasting area. We went when the kids were younger and they loved the ride. Everything else they don’t remember. lol
I went to Pacific Union College in Angwin for 2 years of my undergraduate degree. 😁
I ❤️ California!
Nice!! I love California too. I grew up in Socal but I don’t think I can live there anymore.
Happy birthday Ellis.
It looks like an incredible place to visit.
Thank you, Leanne!! I know you would have had a blast taking pictures of this place. You have such good perspectives of tall buildings and architecture. I remember one of your advice, which was to look up!
Happy Birthday Ellis!
Thank you!!
This looks like a fun trip to toast Ellis’ birthday and nice you had some pretty weather, which was perfect for picture-taking. I like the red Boon Fly Cafe, the perfect backdrop for the picture of the kids. You got some nice family photos here Esther, especially of the four of you.
Thank you, Linda!! It was nice to get away and do something different for her. I asked if she wanted to have cake and decorations at the hotel to make it more special, but she wanted to save that for home. That saved me a lot of trouble! The Boon Fly Cafe is so colorful and cheerful and a great way to start the Napa trip. I have a picture of me with the kids when they were younger here…if only I could find it. I took the family picture with my selfie stick. My arm is not long enough to fir everyone and if it does, my face looks large and shows like half of my face.
I’m glad everything worked out and you had good weather – always a factor when you plan a quick getaway. (Good thing you didn’t opt for a family vacation in Hawaii with all the flooding problems.) That’s good that Ellis opted to celebrate at home with cake and decorations. You do so well with the selfies with the kids and using the selfie stick as well. Your photos never have the funny look with the eyes looking off to the side. 🙂
Happy Birthday to Ellis! Looks like a lot of great family fun! 🙂