Apples, Wine, Ice Cream, and Bread... Oh My!

Alternate title: Eating our way through Julian, CA

What a busy morning we had... No school for the kids meant apple picking for us. We tried to get there right when it opened since it has been warm the past few days. We headed up to pick up GaMommy and Uncle Joey then trekked out to Julian for some fall fun. First stop, apple picking. Tiny apple trees produce teeny apples. I have already decided it is going to be a "rustic" apple pie or nothing since I can't imagine peeling 50 of these itsy bitsy apples to make a full pie. They are delicious, though!





Next stop (about 300 feet down the road) was a local winery where we split a tasting between all of us since it was 10 am, 2/3 of us are light-weights, and we all wanted to be awake and perky the rest of the morning. I ended up purchasing the merlot... yummy.

Then into town to the soda fountain where we consumed 1 extra large milkshake, delicious black cherry ice cream, a grape soda float and an orange soda float. yummy, yet again. I forget how good really good ice cream actually is. yummmmmmyyyyy.....




Final stop, on our way back home, Dudley's Bakery. Now, I have fond memories of fresh baked Dudley's bread and it has always been a must-stop for me, however, this loaf I bought was way too airy and not as flavorful as I recall Dudley's bread tasting. I was disappointed, but maybe I have too high of standards. I do love my bread. ;)

Anyway, a fun Wednesday and a great way to usher in the end of the week!

Pizza Dance

Can't wait for preschool

Little Lady LOVE LOVE LOVES dropping Squeaker off at Preschool. She thinks that she belongs there and just joins in all the fun. It is a cry-fest every time we have to leave. So SAD! :(

Silver Knights

Here are a few pics from Little Man's first soccer game. It was amazingly good and these kids are just ADORABLE! I remember 'bumblebee' soccer, but they play 4x4, so it wasn't too bad. Some of the kiddos seemed to be a little more comfortable with the ball - and LM was not so sure whether he should go after it (probably for fear of missing) or run to get open or what exactly he should do. Every time he did something good, you could see him get excited then a bit embarrassed. Just so fun to see and made me so proud of him. Most importantly, I am just glad he had a wonderful time!

I tried to embed a photo album, but it was all in reverse, so you'll have to settle for clicking here.

Yard Work

There is something about moving into a new house (which is not in anyway NEW) that makes you just want to make it your own. We were very distracted after moving into our current home. We have been slowly trying to figure out how to arrange our existing 'stuff' into this new configuration. It is trial and error and a very fluid system. As a matter of fact, we just rearranged the family room last night (instead of laundry -yea for procrastination) and it looks much more homey. Anyhow... besides all the BIG things we want to do, and by big, i mean expensive-big, the yard is something we have been itching to make our own. I have been slowly cutting back overgrown plants, only to discover some wonderful (an much more to my liking) plants, vines and shrubs. There is still a lot to be done, but getting rid of ugly grass and uneven lawn was and is a much needed next step. Here we* are in the beginning stages:



*and by "we", I really mean not ME at all!

Where the turf meets the surf

Approximately 15 years ago, I worked at the Del Mar Racetrack in one of their "fancy" restaurants. It was a perfect end-of-the-summer job. I got to brush up on my Espanol, climb several flights of stairs multiple times a day, and sometimes go to the beach before/after work. Since my last day of work all those years ago, I haven't been back. Until this last weekend! A friend of mine gave us a couple of tickets (her dad trains horses) and we took the gang for the afternoon. The boys got to bet on a couple races and came in 1st and 2nd (... not too shabby) in one of them. We met up with my friend and her family and the boys got to go meet he jockey and we were able to see the horses up close. It was definitely a learning experience for all of us, but I would definitely go again. It was fun and exciting and something new and different.

Soccer Practice

Little Man is playing soccer this fall. We are all very excited and he loves it. Granted, he is more like a bounding St. Bernard than a finesse player, but it is all about fun at this age! They play 4x4 on a small field with no goalie. It is great. It will be a great year. We have been practicing for a month and games start this Saturday. We, siblings and parents, are practicing our sideline sitting. I swear this is an unposed picture of Squeaker.

First Day of School

Okay, so I am only 2 weeks behind... we've been busy! Here are the boys on their first day of school