Aniesha Turns 40!

My friend Aniesha turned 40 last week, and eight of her friends celebrated with her at a house in Paso Robles for the weekend.  I've never been on a girls' weekend, and it was a lot of fun!

Aniesha and I met when we were brand new 911 dispatchers at the Madera Police Department back in 1998.  So, basically a lifetime ago!  I was one of her bridesmaids at her wedding.  We have been able to keep our friendship strong throughout the years, and for that I am blessed!  She is the best kind of friend.

I picked Aniesha up at her house in Hanford along with her friend Meghan.  We took our time getting over to Paso Robles by stopping for lunch at Panera before heading out.  We also stopped at Pear Valley Winery to enjoy a bit of wine tasting.  I ended up buying a bottle of Frizzante Muscat.  Yum!

 After leaving the winery, we stopped at Trader Joe's to get appetizers for the evening's event.  Our hostess arranged for us to do a wine tasting at the house.  We each brought wine and food.  The olive spread was delicious!  I want to get more for home.

 Aniesha is half Indian, so the party had an Indian theme with head pieces, a bindi sticker for our forehead, and henna tattoos.

 We each got our own wine glass.

 We were all wondering if the "entertainment" was a stripper, but then the henna artist walked in!  We each got to pick a design.

 Not sure how long the ink would last, I didn't want to get it on my hand or arm because I have some school things to do this week.  I opted for my ankle.  The artist did this free hand.  So pretty!

The first night at the house, we all drank too much wine, played Cards Against Humanity, and sat in the hot tub.  I was up until 1 a.m.  I couldn't tell you the last time I saw those numbers on the clock!

The next morning we all slowly woke up, got ready, and six of us headed to the coast.  The house where we were staying was located in the wine valley country.  We were surrounded by vineyards.  It took about 40 minutes to get to the beach.  Three girls stayed behind to sunbathe by the pool.  But when you are from the Central Valley, if you are within 40 minutes of the ocean, you GO to the ocean!

 It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Cayucos.  It was perfect to smell the fresh air, watch the waves, and enjoy lunch.

 Warm sun, cool breeze, and ocean?  Yes, please!

 Birthday girl!

 We ate at a place called Duckies.  I ordered a bowl of clam chowder, a side of garlic bread, and a soda.  Perfect lunch.  I think I like Slash Cafe chowder a bit more, but this soup was really good!

While we were waiting for one of the girls to get a coffee, Kayla painted Aniesha's toes!  Talk about service for your birthday!

On Saturday night we headed to a winery tasting room in downtown Paso to listen to a live singer that Aniesha knew from junior high!  It was a relaxing night.  We ended up back at the house pretty early.  We were all tired!

Sunday morning was cleanup, and I drove us home.  It was a great weekend with a special friend.

 As much fun as it was to be away, I was happy to be home with this little chicken.

And this big monkey.  They enjoyed boys' weekend with a movie, a trip to see Mama and Papa, and a birthday party.  And Evan got a new hat and looks very hip.  Or cool.  Or whatever word the kids are using these days!

My Week Off

After we came home from a wedding trip to Mammoth, I knew I'd be taking the week off from work.  What I didn't expect was to catch a cold on Sunday driving home.  Major bummer.

 We moved our bed, night stands and dressers back into our bedroom on Monday.  Oh the joy of being back in our room with the new floors!  Such peace!

I made a doctor appointment for myself on Tuesday.  I ended up with antibiotics, two inhalers, and my usual nose sprays and allergy meds.

 Somehow on Tuesday I had enough energy to clean out the linen closet.  I really like having empty shelves.  I don't want to fill them!  Purge, purge!

 And no, I didn't take a before shot.  Imagine every shelf filled to overflowing.  Plus, all sorts of games, candles, towels, picture frames, and stuff shoved and falling everywhere.  That's what this closet looked like when I started.

On Wednesday, I slept in until 9, got up for an hour, and then spent the rest of the day in bed.  I didn't plan on that, but it did me a world of good to get much needed rest while fighting a cold.

 We went bowling on Thursday.  The adorable little girl in the picture is Chloe, and she is the niece of my coworker.  I love this kid!  She missed the bowling field trip during summer school, so I promised her we'd get together before school started to bowl.

 Evan won the first game and Hudson won the second.  Kaitlinn and I played without bumpers in the lane next to the kids.  She won the first game and I won the second.

 Even though he is getting to be quite the "teenage-like" kid, he still wants me to notice when he does something like get a strike or spare!  It was cute when he'd get my attention to show me his score!

 My babies.

 So stinking cute!  I keep telling her that I'm taking her home to live with me!  She's just the spunkiest and funniest little thing.  She also likes me and gives me big hugs whenever I see her!  Love it.

After bowling, the boys and I went to Target to buy a birthday gift.  I spotted this in the kid section.  Oh my gosh!  If it had been in my size, it would have been mine!  I LOVE everything about this shirt.  The stripes, the weenie dog, the gold, the glitter!  It's perfect!  Except for being eight sizes too small!

Nephew's Wedding in Mammoth

Last weekend we left for Mammoth to attend our nephew, Keith's, wedding.  It was a fun weekend filled with gorgeous scenery, a fun wedding, and memories made.

We took Evan to Yosemite one time when he was around 2-years-old. We haven't been back since!  Tragedy.  Hudson kept saying, "I've never seen this place."  We told him, "Yeah, we've been keeping it from you!"  We had to get out of the car for this scenic shot.  They kids seemed semi impressed when I told them I had hiked to the top of Half Dome when I was in my early 20's!

No cell reception meant Evan opted for sleep.

Thankfully, this one zonked out as well.  He chatters about everything when he's conscious!

To get to Mammoth, we drove all the way through Yosemite to the eastern entrance.  Neither Eric or I had ever been to that side of the park.  It was beautiful!

I was taking pictures as though I'd never seen a cloud or trees before!

I was nervous about the drive being too long or curvy, but ended up really enjoying the scenery along the way.

Gorgeous lake on the eastern side of the park.

I don't like to camp, but I like pretty views!

Tuolumne Meadows.  I've heard of the name, but have never seen it!  So pretty!  Right as you are amidst trees and mountains, suddenly the landscape opens up to the amazing span of open space.  We want to come back to explore this area some time!

There were some pretty steep canyons on the drive that were a little scary.

Tioga Pass is quite the steep grade.  I didn't like that part of the drive, but it was nice to be able to get to Mammoth through Yosemite.  In the winter, the pass is closed, and you can only get to Mammoth by going south to Bakersfield and around!  That adds a few hours to the trip.  No, thank you.

We stayed at the Westin hotel.  The bride works there, so we got a good room rate.  Our room was awesome and looked out onto the pool!  We hung out at the pool Friday night and enjoyed a bbq with the family and wedding party.

We had a little time on Saturday before the wedding, so we drove around and explored Mammoth for a bit.  We found this pretty lake.

The temperature was in the 60s to 70s and felt so good.  I was worried, however, about too much sun, especially at 10,000 feet elevation.

The wedding was at the Catholic Church in Mammoth.  It was a little unconventional of a ceremony, but very sweet and personal.  The reception was outside at a historic museum.  The boys had fun exploring a nearby creek.

I tried to find shade!

We left the reception around 6 and headed to the hotel to change.  We walked down to the village to look for ice cream.  Mammoth is such a cute little town.  I'd love to see it in winter with snow, but I don't know if I'd be willing to make the drive in winter!  I'm a weenie when it comes to long car rides.

We let the kids swim and we sat in the hot tub once we got back to the hotel, and we were all asleep by 10!

The next morning Eric and I had brunch with the family and then let the kids swim one last time before heading home.  I lounged on a beach chair and took selfies.  I liked my makeup that morning!

Even though the temperature was cool, the pool was heated and the boys really liked swimming there.  I liked the view of the pool with forest trees all around!

Eye shadow was spot on that morning!

Quick McDonald's lunch before we hit the road.

We explored Bridalveil falls for 30 minutes on the way home.  It was a much needed stretch break.  Evan wasn't impressed because this late in the summer and with the drought conditions, the "fall" was more of a mist!  We need to take him next spring when the snow is melting and the falls are gorgeous.  The he might be more impressed!

Funny, I didn't get any pictures of the bride and groom, but they looked fantastic!  It was a nice little weekend trip with family.