Napa

We were on a mission to make the most of every last moment of flight privileges. With COVID, a hurricane brewing, and fires on the west coast, we were not sure if Grant and I were going to be able to pull off a weekend away. I arranged childcare and crossed my fingers! On Friday morning, we braved the fires and headed to California. We landed early afternoon, rented a car, and headed to Napa. We stopped at an awesome crepe place for lunch, and then hoped for the best as we drove into wine country. No one was answering the phone and we could smell a hint of smoke in the air. We managed to find a winery, Clos Pegase, that was open and it ended up being beautiful! It was their first day open and we were able to watch the sunset over the vineyards. Afterwards, we made our way back to the hotel and stopped at a roadside place for burgers. We checked into the hotel and then go a couples massages at a local place. Ahhh. 

On Saturday, we did an organized tour. Gary with Platypus Tours was a great guide. There were 6 of us on the tour and we went to 3 wineries. 1) Auburn James, 2) Hans Fahden, and 3) Varazzo. All three were nice stops, but Hans Fahden was my favorite because of the amazing scenery. They had a pond, gardens, and a gorgeous property. We bought wine at each stop and shipped a box of 12 bottles home. After the tour, we had an 8:30 reservation at Bottega. Stuffed ravioli, spa water, burrata cheese - Delicious! I would definitely go there again.

Sunday we had a wine tasting scheduled at Prisoners and then ventured over to Sonoma and ate lunch at Girl and the Fig and then wandered around the square. We had dinner at Mustard's Grill and the meatloaf was amazing. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed seeing an area we hadn't been to before. We made the full driving loop back through Napa. On Monday, we did a 10 mile bike ride with bikes from the hotel and then headed home. What a wonderful weekend!

Back at the ranch, we were attacked! Never a dull moment for Papa :)

Cadie is 12

 I was so glad to get back in town from Washington on Sunday evening so that we could celebrate Cadie's 12th birthday on Monday. Cadie had some fairly simple requests this year. A glue gun of her own and dinner at Rise. I called ahead to Rise and they saved the fancy table for us! It was beautiful and I think Cadie felt special. Cadie is responsible, an avid reader, likes to be early to school, thinks she may want to be a teacher or an interior designer, is in advanced math (so proud of her!), adventurous, opinionated, skeptical, prefers 1:1 or small groups, artistic, and reliable. I love her dearly and it has been a privilege to get to take her to school every day and go on walks with her in the evenings. I still get to snuggle her and scratch her back every night. She also loves to emphasize how much taller than me that she is. She will reach over my head for things in the kitchen. Show off! Cadie is a lovely young lady and being her Mom is something I am grateful for every day.

Colton and Erin in Cashmere

Monday, Sept. 21 I began sharing the news about my departure from Southwest. It was extremely difficult, but I had told my boss, Whitney, the Wed before we left for Disney and I was anxious to share the news. I wanted to get it out and also begin planning for transition. With the news, it also meant we had a very limited window for travel privileges! We all tried to make the most of it before our wings were clicked on Oct. 16. Dad took a trip to KC and Dallas, Jerry and Susan used buddy passes go to Charlotte, Grant took Ranger to San Antonio, and I took Colton to Washington to visit Eric and Anna.

Colton and I were the last two on an AA flight on Thursday evening. I was so nervous that we wouldn't make it! We rented a car and drove to Cashmere and go there really late. The moon was really bright which helped with the drive. We left on Sunday afternoon on a Southwest flight that wasn't very full which was nice.

We explored Ridge 2 River property, "helped" Eric with the concrete for the new barn, went mini-golfing, spent an afternoon at the river, and even got to go to dinner with Tara. We had an amazing time and Eric and Anna were wonderful hosts. I also loved getting to spend some special time with my little dude. He was super easy to travel with and he loved the adventure as much as I did.

Meanwhile back in Texas, Grant took Ranger to San Antonio and Cadie hung out with DD and Big John.

Disney World! Cadie & Kam 12th Birthday Trip

Wednesday: 6:30pm flight to Orlando

Landen dropped us off and we didn't have any problems. We got there pretty late at night and rented a car to head to the hotel. We stayed at the Old Key West resort and it was awesome! We had groceries delivered to the hotel so the kids could have some food before dinner and we could eat breakfast before we went to Magic Kingdom on Thursday morning. Our hotel was one of the trip highlights. We had plenty of room for everyone! Cadie and Kamryn had their own room with 2 queen beds and a bathroom. Jack Ranger slept on the pull out couch in the living room. Grant and I had a huge room with a king bed and a big bathroom with a jacuzzi tub that was more like a small swimming pool. Colton floated around the condo and slept once in the laundry room, once on the floor in our room, etc. We were right across the street from the main clubhouse and the kids went swimming every night.

Thursday: Magic Kingdom

We were up bright and early to head to Magic Kingdom! We were really glad we had rented a car because buses and transportation were running less frequently and fewer people were allowed on. We parked and then rode the ferry over to Magic Kingdom. There were lots of changes due to COVID. No fast passes, no character meet & greets, no magic hours, no dining plans, parks closed early around 6pm with no evening activities (e.g., no fireworks) and long lines with 6 ft. markers between groups. With all the changes, it wasn't nearly as magical. We still had a good time and the kids loved riding Space Mountain 5x in a row, they loved the "Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" ride, and we were all thankful Grant made us a lunch reservation at The Liberty Tavern. It rained a bit in the afternoon, but we didn't get too wet and that helped to clear out a bit of the crowd. 

Friday: Hollywood Studios

Mickey's Runaway Railway was my favorite new ride at Disney. Since there we no fast passes, we did a lot of "Mom Fast Passes" where I waited in a long line while Grant and the kids did other rides. I waited at Mickey's Runaway Railway for about an hour while they did the Rockin Rollercoaster and the Tower of Terror. I was so glad that I waited because I loved it! We also enjoyed seeing the new Star Wars area and the new Toy Story Land. We were a bit disappointed that the big new Star Wars ride "Rise of the Resistance" filled up on the virtual line within seconds. We ate lunch at Mama Melrose's. I was so thankful that Grant had made lunch reservations because all the food places were packed! We also needed the break each day. We didn't really take any good pictures on Friday. I also had to head back early on Friday for a work event. I then went and picked up Grant and the kids from the Swan and Dolphin resort so they could ride the new gondola. We went to eat at Denny's and everyone was tired and starving.

Saturday: Epcot

We did all the good stuff at Epcot! My favorite ride that I hadn't done before was the Frozen ride. I also loved the Coral Reef restaurant. By the time we arrived at the restaurant, we had already made a loop around the lake and we were ready for a break and it was such a surprise! We sat right in front of the huge aquarium. It was beautiful.

Sunday: Animal Kingdom

Our last day! We packed up the car and checked out before we went to the park. This was the rainiest day, but the kids didn't seem to mind it too much. We had fun lunch at the Rainforest Cafe and the girls got a huge dessert with a sparkler! The kids rode Expedition Everest 3x and they loved it! We also tried a new ride since we were already wet, Kali River Rapids, and it was a big disappointment. We were ready to get soaked and the ride was short and not very exciting. We wrapped up the day with A Bugs Life, which always makes me scream, and then some souvenir shopping. We headed to the airport for our 7:30pm flight back home. We were all a bit tired, but we made the most of our 4 days!

Back to School

What a mess of a back to school season. The kids were virtual Aug. 27-Sept. 4 and then back into the classrooms at school on Tuesday, Sept. 8 after Labor Day. Nina and Papa helped a ton, especially with Colton, during virtual school. Colton and Ranger also tried a week of the learning academy at the YMCA, which I had hoped would be fun, but they didn't like it at all. We made it through, but it wasn't pretty. One of the craziest things was that Ranger was put in a virtual class and we didn't find out until a week after school had started when Grant started to ask some questions. Mrs. Judd let Ranger pick his class because of the mistake and he picked Mrs. Chancey so he could be with Hunter Meyers.

Colton: Mrs. Virginia Schmidt with lots of his friends (Luke, Hayden)

Ranger: Mrs. Hannah Chancey

Cadie: First, Cindy Hodgkinson, but then she didn't come back after virtual school. Then, long term sub, who Cadie really liked, named Ms. Anne Iler. Then, a new advisory teacher named Julie Magusiak.

A few new things:

- Cadie doesn't get to have a locker due to COVID, not sure why, and her backpack is SO heavy.

- Kids have to wear masks all day and they each have a specific door they have to go in and out

- Colton and Ranger have a plexi-glass barrier that they have in their classroom and they carry with them to lunch

- Each class has a designated area for recess so that they don't interact with other classes, and they have assigned seats at lunch