Weekend in San Francisco + A Surprise Jaunt to Napa!

We don't have many pictures from our weekend trip to CA, but we did have a great time! For the MLK holiday weekend we zipped down to visit our good friends Sarah & Emily who moved to the Bay Area last fall. We didn't have any agenda for the trip - and on Friday night before we flew S&Em asked about rolling up to Napa to check out wine country. I quickly emailed Linda on Saturday morning to see if they were around - and they were! So we were able to sneak in a coffee with them too. The best treat!

Sarah, Thor and I wine tasting at Frogs Leap. 

Four trouble makers at Elyse Vineyards - our favorite winery. They had their '09 Morresoli (sp?) Zin on super sale - so we split a case. Yahtzee!

On Saturday we headed to The Dolphin Club - an old SF open water swimming club. Sarah is a member and loves the piece and quiet of swimming in the bay. I went in with her while Thor and Emily relaxed and read their books. They may have been the smart ones - the water was only 53 degrees! 

I don't know how Sarah does it in just a suit! She says you acclimate. I was the only person there swimming in a wetsuit, but I was soooo glad I had it on. 

It was fog to the deck for 95% of our trip, but it lifted for about 2 hours on Sunday afternoon (AFTER our swim, naturally).

Sarah & Emily live about a 5 minute walk from Pacific Beach - not too shabby! Monday we hit the beach for a walk, went to Outerlands for breakfast (yum!), and went to visit Emily at work at Timbuk2 in the Mission district. 

Overall we had a really relaxing weekend visiting great friends. It was a nice break from the hustle at home. 

Holiday Walking With Mom

Throughout my entire flu mom insisted on coming over to see me (which I appreciated!), but I was quite concerned she would get sick (she didn't). Probably the best part was that as I began to get more strength we started going on walks around the neighborhood just to check out the houses, the different styles of architecture, and the yards - it turned out to be a lot of fun! 

The Friday after New Years my lungs were doing well so we decided to branch out and hit a hiking trail, so we headed out to the Gorge and were treated to some spectacular frozen falls. 

Horsetail Falls

The amount of ice that had accumulated on the rocks in the pool was pretty incredible. 

Higher up on the trail, a different set of falls. We actually had to turn around here because the trail was completely iced over behind the falls. (I didn't need a second holiday where I was the child that just happened to be with mom when she broke her leg! 😳) 

Don't mind our cut off chins. We had one that captured our entire heads, but mom's eyes were closed. 

In the undercut behind the falls before the trail iced over. 

Sookie! Our sweet hiking buddy for the day. She is such a good listener these days we can let her roam off leash for the majority of the hike. A real treat for both parties!

And just one more waterfall. I can't get enough of these during the winter when the edges freeze - they are so stunningly beautiful. 

Tis' The Season to Be....Sick!!!

Well - you've always known that I am a hip, with-it, trendsetter - and this year was no different as I was one of the first people to usher in the flu in Portland - yay!  No one had it when I got sick in early December, but now there are all sorts of articles about the epidemic arriving in Portland - so I was on the cutting edge! Before anyone worries too much we still had really nice, enjoyable holidays - we were just very sick. (That's right: we.  My special gift to Thor who felt the first symptoms on Christmas Eve). 

We were fortunate to get to spend time with family over the holidays anyways though. Mom, William, Sheri and Fred came over for Christmas - and the only flu casualty was William (sorry little bro!) I managed to capture some pictures of our veeeeery low key day. 

I actually think this is Xmas Eve. Abby and Lucy take up residence on the green couch with Sheri. 

The stockings we're hung by the chimney with care...

Our lovely tree that mom came over to help decorate when I wasn't feeling well. 

Christmas morning tradition! Arabic Date/Farina 'cookies' - not too sweet. 

Slowly getting moving Christmas morning. 

Don't forget Uncle Fred!

We kept the dogs busy munching on treats - there were four of them!

William and Thor showing me some Christmas stoke. This is right before Thor really started to head downhill. 

A gift that really make us laugh: custom his/hers Nutella jars! Mom and William got some too. Aunt Julie picked them up in London. Really fun!

I was impressed that my christmas table came out looking so festive. Domestic, wifely hosting skills = A+ (at least for this go around)!

And all filled up with Christmas cheer! William carves the prime rib like a pro! 

What's a family holiday without a little movie action? We were a slow crew - so we spent the day watching classics that not all of us had seen. A Christmas Story (you'll shoot your eye out!) in the afternoon, and A Princess Bride in the evening.

a day after christmas I started to feel peppier - so Will, Mom and I headed out to dinner. This is 12-hrs before William came down with the dreaded bug. 

New Year's Day. We were both feeling well enough that I dragged Thor out for breakfast at a tasty little fresh food cafe called Harlow. Doesn't he look sweet? It was a nice, relaxing, mellow way to kick off the New Year. 

Happy 2015 Everyone!

Thanksgiving in Baja

We had the greatest time in Baja for Thanksgiving with Anna and Dad! We had decent weather, swam with whale sharks, got to go out fishing - the only down side was Dad cracked his back the second day in when he was sitting on the deck and we dropped into a deep trough and then the deck came back up and smacked him. Ouch. It will heal, but a real bummer for sure!

  

It was a real treat getting to hang out with Anna on the boat - and we even caught some great fish too! Here are some pictures from the trip. 

Thor waits in the 90 customs line on the way into Mexico. 

Check out this crazy, narrow stairwell where we had breakfast on our first morning!

This papaya! They were so big there!

Thor- rolling down the Malecon when we switched from the hotel to Fisherman's Fleet on the second night. 

Anna- so cute! On our way to go swimming with whale sharks on Sunday afternoon. 

Success! Life dream complete. Anna swims with a whale shark!

On Monday we headed to Magdalena Bay for four days of fishing. Here's Thor playing the first fish. We had a lot of windy, choppy weather or first day. 

I fought the only marlin of the trip! It was probably about 100 lbs and soooo hard to real in. I was a little thankful when it broke off. I thought my biceps we're going to explode. 

Three banditos huddled for warmth on the run out to the fishing grounds. 

Sunrise view from camp. 

View of camp from the boat. We slept in the green house and ate under the grass-roofed area. 

Anna and Thor went out in the packraft looking for bait fish. 

Fortunately the fog burned off!

Me with a Sheepshead, and Thor with a Yellow Tail. 

Check out those gnarly teeth!

Snorkeling in the wide open, deep Pacific. Anna