When Hubs told me he wanted to run his first half marathon, I was excited for him to crush another goal!
But when Hubs told me he wanted to run his first half marathon in Napa Valley, I was like see, that's why we're married!
We piled the kids in the car -- 11 years old and 14 months old -- and roadtripped up the coast.
Our AirBnB was perfection!!! This was our first trip as a family of four, and I have to say, renting a house, rather than booking a hotel room was definitely the way to go. Having access to a full kitchen, yard space, and private bedrooms made life much easier for all of us. And it was cost effective because I was able to cook just about every meal in the beautiful kitchen rather than us paying for multiple people to eat out three times a day.
Race Day came and we were up before the sun. Hubs was in the zone! I was too. But the zone I was in was more of a, God, please let there be a gas station with a hot pot of coffee on our way to the start line, and Lord, please don't let these kids try me tah-day zone.
The morning turned out absolutely beautiful. I asked for gas station coffee and ended up with an almond milk latte from a dreamy cafe (Look at God!), the kiddos were GREAT, and Julian ran from Napa to Sonoma, beating his personal record by 30 minutes!!!!
PSA: I AM MARRIED TO A TOTAL BEAST.
We spent that afternoon with Kim and Thomas Chappell in San Fran and it was the sweetest! Kim was my anchor back in the day -- at my first reporter job in South Bend, Indiana. Fast forward a few years, career changes, marriages, babies, and cross country moves later, and Pippa Lou + Savannah Rose were having their first playdate! Be still my heart. Kim (40 weeks preggo with Baby Hughes!) made the best dinner, and I'm pretty sure the guys officially have a budding bromance.
With full bellies and even fuller hearts, we made our way back to our home for the weekend. But not without stopping to take a pic with the Golden Gate Bridge (obvs!) #NailedIt
The next day was winery day!!!!!! Yes, we took the littles, and yes, it was AMAZING. Napa Valley has a number of family friendly and dog friendly wineries, so no excuses!! Go have a taste, or ten! Here's the list that helped us figure out which spots to go to: https://www.napavalley.com/blog/kid-friendly-wineries-napa-valley/
Hubby and I LOVED Beringer Vineyards, the oldest continuously operating winery in Napa Valley. We toured historic wine caves and tunnels that were dug into the hillside by Chinese laborers who had just finished constructing the transcontinental railroad. The history lessons were right up Julian's alley, and the wine was divine (even with Savannah's snacks dropped in them)!
Sn: The tour came with a little backpack with toys, snacks, and juice boxes for our 11 year old, so that bought us a little time. ;-)
Ladies, is there anything sexier than your man pushing the stroller while sipping vino in wine country?!!! I think not.
The whole weekend was incredible.
If you're thinking about roadtripping with littles, traveling with littles, winery hopping with littles, basically anything with littles, DO IT!!!! Just don't forget your sense of humor.
Let me know if you want contact info for any of the spots we visited or the AirBnb we called home for the weekend!
Cheers!
Love Always.
Jas