We left the house at 4:30 am Friday, August 13th.  James was on travel in Oregon for the week, returned at 2:00 am Thursday morning, and we still finished packing and actually got a few hours of sleep to prep for the big flight.  The boys did amazing, they were wide awake through security and onto the plane.  Langdon took a good nap on the flight to Atlanta, we did a quick switch and had a pleasant and short flight to Columbia.  Once we arrive at the hotel we all took over a two hour nap!

The rehearsal was at 5:00 pm at Our Lady of the Hills Catholic Church, James and the boys joined everyone afterwards for a wonderful meal and getting aquainted with Kelly and Trey’s family and friends.  The wedding was beautiful and the ceremony was very touching and personal.  The reception was a blast and the boys were the last ones to leave the dance floor.  The next morning we grabbed breakfast, went for a swim and packed up to head to the beach.

We arrived near Charleston at the Isle of Palms that afternoon, checked into our villa and headed straight for the beach.  We spent the next three days at the beach, pool and relaxing at the villa with the boys.  We had an amazing time, wonderful place to visit, if it was a little more convienient to get to we would head back soon.

Our travel home went amazingly well and we got home by 10:00 that night and preparred to head back to work the next day.

Walking on the

We headed down to Socorro on Friday afternoon, August 6th to catch the junior triathlon.  It was very well organized by Lynette and her friends from Riders and Striders.  Lottie, Abbey and Audrey all participated and did an amazing job, future triathletes in training!

Early Saturday morning, before 6:00 am, Tony and I jumped on our bikes and made our way to the sprint triathlon.  We set up our bikes and gear and joined Mum, Matt, Alec, Abi, Josh & Aidan.  Everyone did great, every Napier came in top 5 in their groups, Matt took third overall, Alec took third in an extremely competitive age group as did Abi, Aidan took 1st in his age group and Josh took 3rd.  Mum would have also placed in her age group if not for a timer mishap in the pool.  It was a hot morning despite early morning clouds and showers.

That evening we celebrated over a delicious meal preparred by Maritza and enjoyed a wonderful evening in the garden relaxing and visiting.

The next day we did an early celebration with cookie cake for Abbey’s 8th birhday and made our way back home to Rio Rancho to start a busy and short week.

Playing in the

We headed to Northern New Mexico for our annual Navajo Lake trip with the Napier family.  Tony arrived on Wednesday night to join us and Jenny and Josh came over Thursday afternoon and we loaded into both cars to tow the boat and the pop-up camper.  We had another heat wave last week and we were not spared when we arrived at the lake, temperatures were just below 100 degree F.  When we arrived Roland got a little car sick in the car during the last five miles, but a quick trip to the showers and a quick cleaning of the car and car seat and we put it behind us quickly and set up camp.  That night we had a nice dinner with Mum, Dad, Maritza, Tony, Jenny and Josh.  The next day we got the boat out on the water and did some wake boarding, knee boarding and tubing.  Matt & Erin’s family arrived and set up and after lunch took the boat out as well, and it broke down and stranded them again and hopefully for the last time.  We were hoping it was just a battery, but when that did not fix it, we were hoping it had just had water in take that could easily been cleared, but the marina mechanic let us know that was not the case and the boat was once again out of commission. 
Despite the bad boat Karma, we had a great weekend and enjoyed our easy access to the lake to cool off and fish.  We celebrated James’s birthday Saturday and packed up Sunday and made the 3 hour drive back home.  When we arrived it was 104!  It is now starting to cool down into the 80’s and hopefully some summer rain storms will help keep the temperatures bearable for the next few weeks.
 

After we got back from our big trip out west we took some time to catch up with the boys.  That weekend we drove down to Socorro to spend the 4^th of July with the families.  Roland loved the fireworks this year and had a blast playing with all his cousins.  On Monday we drove back home to prepare to go back to work after a very nice two week vacation.  That Friday the Ellis’s came over for dinner and to catch up.  Melissa looks radiant and her belly is adorable, we are so excited for them and cannot wait until baby Ellis arrives in October.  That Saturday we celebrated Langdon’s baptism at the Center for Spiritual Living.  It was a very nice and personal ceremony with the small group of family that could attend.  Following the baptism we had a late lunch and visited with everyone at our place.  We were very happy to have Will and Jenny accept the role as God Parents to Langdon.  We are also very excited and proud of Jenny for getting an amazing opportunity and a new career which she will move out to Arkansas for this month and start the first week of August.  We are also very happy to have Abbey and Lottie moving back to New Mexico to start school this fall!
On Sunday Amy, Abbey, Langdon and I went to Melissa’s baby shower.  It was a very nice group of family and friends, great food, company and adorable baby gifts.  We are already planning a trip out next summer to visit the Ellis family and spend some time with their new addition, I don’t think we’ve actually told them that, so if you are reading Mel & John, set some time aside for another Minnesota Napier invasion ;o)

We arrived in Seattle Saturday afternoon, checked into the hotel and made our way to Pike Place Market.  We walked around many of the shops and past the fish market and grabbed a bite to eat and ate a late lunch in a nearby park with a view of Mt. Rainier.  That evening we strolled along the wharf on Puget Sound and I grabbed some Halibut fish and chips as we walked for dinner.  The next day we took the free train near the needle and did a tour on the Ducks.   These are large amphibious WWII vehicles that have been transformed into tour buses.  The tour was entertaining and educational and driving into the Lake Union and cruising past the Most Dangerous Catch vessels was fun.  After the tour we made our way back near the market and enjoyed a great lunch at the Pike Brewing Company, where I had steamed mussels and we of course sampled the brews.
The next day we took a clipper to Victoria British Columbia.  Once we arrived in Victoria we took a tour bus to The Butchart Gardens which is over 50 acres of beautiful gardens with foliage from all around the world and immaculately maintained.  It took two full hours to walk through and we had to run back to the tour bus.  The tour bus did a nice tour through the city and by the harbor and dropped us at our hotel.  The hotel had a great restaurant and bar of the 18^th floor which had live music and a spectacular view of the city and harbor.  The next day we did a “up close” trip out to see the Orca’s.  When we were gearing up to get on the small boat to head out on our three hour tour I read a brochure which explained that no vessel, even kayak’s is allowed within 100 yards of Orca’s.  Since we did not bring our binoculars, it was not easy to see the Orca’s, but the blasts of cold ocean water along the way and back kept us from falling asleep.  We do understand the purpose of protecting the Orca’s from boats and people, I would just like the tour companies to adjust their photos and brochures to more accurately depict what you get for your $90, we wished we had taken the 5 star tours we read about as well, then we would have been fed, warm, in our own clothes and have a higher and better viewing point.
Later that day we left Canada and made our way back to Seattle for one more night.  The next morning we took an elevator up to the viewing deck of the Smith Tower and had a great view of the city, the sound but unfortunately not the Olympic mountain range which was covered with clouds.  We were missing the boys terribly by then and were able to get a much earlier flight home in time to catch them before dinner and baths.  

On Wednesday morning we left Sonoma and drove west toward the coast.  Our first stop was Point Reyes ranger station.  We unfortunately did not have enough time to drive out to the light house and do a hike around the National Seashore and Park, but it looked amazing and we plan to make another trip back to do so.  Once on the Pacific Coast we drove south toward San Francisco.  The views were breath taking.  We stopped a few times along the way to take a few pictures, we also stopped and did a short walk to a look out at Golden Gate Park.  It was very cloudy and foggy so we could not see much past the beach and breaking waves, but it was still very beautiful and the hill sides were covered in wild flowers and full of color.  We crossed over the Golden Gate Bridge late in the morning which was eerily covered in fog and the large suspension pillars disappeared into the clouds as we drove over.   We drove through San Francisco surprisingly quick and made our way to Half Moon Bay where we stopped for lunch at the beach behind Sam’s Chowder House.  I got a big bowl of clam chowder with sour dough bread and we had a nice picnic lunch next to the ocean.  After lunch we kept heading south and made a stop at Pigeon Point lighthouse.  After a few more stops to snap pictures of the coast we drove past Monterey Bay and stopped in Carmel-by-the-sea.  We checked into the hotel and walked through the beautiful little town, past shops that look like they were built and run by fairy’s and down to the beach.  It was over cast and cool, but the walk along the beach was great.  We walked down along some of the coastal fairways of the Pebble Beach golf course.  It was only three days after the U.S. Open and we walked past the “Go Phil” kelp letters for Phil Mickelson that we saw while we were watching the Open on TV.  That night we had a delicious meal at the Forge in the Forrest Restaurant outside near a big fire place.  The next morning we did the 17 Mile Drive, unfortunately it was very cloudy and foggy so we did not see many of the views of Monterey Bay, but as we got close to the beach we saw lot’s of birds, seals and even a few sea otters.
From there we made our way just a few miles to Point Lobos National Reserve and did a walk through the reserve.  This is supposed to be the best place to see Sea Otters, but we did not see any.
From Point Lobos we drove down to Big Sur and stopped for lunch at the Nepenthe restaurant that was suggested to us for the view, which was spectacular.  After lunch we drove to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and did a walk to the large waterfall that pours onto the beach.  From Big Sur we did our longest drive down and made a stop for an early dinner in Buellton at the Firestone Walker Taproom and Restaurant.  They had some great beers which we tasted all of them and shared some good food.  Then we got back in the car and drove to Santa Barbara.  We checked in to the Harbor Inn and borrowed a pair of guest bikes and rode down the beach path to State Street and up and down State Street taking in all the sights.  We stopped for at the Santa Barbara Brewery to catch some of the World Cup games and of course try their flight of beers.  Then we got back on the bikes and headed back to the gorgeous little Inn.  This was by far the nicest place we stayed in California, great room with a fully stocked kitchen and a huge basket of drinks and treats including fresh baked banana bread, which made a delicious breakfast.  The following morning we took the bikes out again and rode up and down the Santa Barbara beach path.
We checked out of our Inn and drove south toward L.A..  We stopped for lunch across from Neptune’s Net where I got a delicious Lobster Roll, and watched the surfers and boogie borders on the waves.  We drove through Malibu and stopped for a quick walk on the beach and then down to Venice Beach.  We did a short walk down the beach and by the ocean front homes and then made our way into Hollywood.  In Hollywood we checked into the worst Hotel of our entire trip for one night and made a quick walk down to the Kodak theater, the wax museum across from Jimmy Kimmel Live, where we briefly saw him and Tom Cruise do a little stunt from the top of the building across the street and back wearing aprons.  That night we drove down Sunset Blvd and up to the Griffith Observatory where we took in the lights of the city.  The next morning we made our way to Burbank to the Bob Hope airport to start our next leg of the trip to Seattle.

Auntie Amy arrived at our house by 6:30 am to take care of the boys when they woke up and we flew into Oakland early Monday morning on June 21st.  From Oakland we had an easy hour drive up to Sonoma.  We checked in to our hotel and made the short walk to the plaza and to a little French bakery, the Basque Boulangerie Café, for lunch.  We shared a great sandwich, tasted some of their fresh baked bread and got a Beehive for dessert.  The beehive was a large custard square with honey almonds on top and powdered sugar, it was dangerously good, and was the first of three we got while in Sonoma.  After lunch we walked to the Sebastiani winery for a tasting.  We joined the wine club and bought a few bottles.  From there we walked to the Renwood winery through the vineyards and past many huge, beautiful Eucalyptus trees.  We did a tasting, they are known for their Red Zinfandels, and then walked back past wild flowers and lavender bushes to the plaza and hotel.  That evening we strolled around the plaza and had dinner and then relaxed in the hot tub at the hotel.  Tuesday morning we started toward the North end of Sonoma and our first stop was at Blackstone.  We tasted many good wines, sat out by the huge redwood trees in their garden then headed to Kenwood.  We really enjoyed the wines at Kenwood and joined their wine club.  After our tasting and filling almost a case shipping box of wine we enjoyed a picnic lunch in their garden under tress next to beautiful Hydrangea flowers.  From there we made a quick stop at the Valley of the Moon winery (which Sonoma is known as) and headed back to the hotel to get ready to renew our wedding vows.
We renewed our vows for our 5th year anniversary and we were very touched by the small ceremony that my Aunt Ann officiated in her and my uncles chapel in Fayetteville, Arkansas, it was magical, so we decided to make it a tradition every 5 years. 
This ceremony for our 10 year anniversary was also very meaningful and touching.  We provided our vows from our wedding and renewed them under the trees near a fountain on Sonoma plaza.
Later that afternoon we made our way to one more winery, Cline.  We had a great experience at Cline, the women who did the tasting for us was very informative and friendly.  We tried an excellent Syrah, priced at $38 a bottle.  There was a sale on it, if you bought a whole case, it came out to around $4 a bottle.  That was a no brainer and we ended up with another case of wine from “Case of Wine Cline”.  Which traveled with us down the Pacific Highway, then up to Seattle and finally back to New Mexico.
That evening we had a wonderful dinner at The Girl & The Fig to celebrate our anniversary.  After dinner we strolled around the plaza which was filled with tents and vendors for the weekly farmers market.  There was a band and many people picnicking and enjoying the great weather.  After our walk we got in the car and did a quick drive up to Santa Rosa past many vineyards and through the Sonoma valley to the Russian River Brewery.  The menu looked great but we were stuffed from our celebration dinner so we did a flight tasting of all the brews on tap (all 13).  They are known for their Belgian style and barrel aged beers.  They were all good, some were interesting and a few were a little hard to drink.  James did pick up a very cool growler while we were there.  We drove back to Sonoma early that evening, caught some highlights from the World Cup and got ready to head out toward the coast the next day.

Happy 1st Birthday Langy Loo!