Dog Park

Zac and I decided to take Hudson and Mopar to the dog park the other day. It was a beautiful day to be out in the sun. We loaded Hudson and Mopar in the Barracuda and headed over, the dog park is nice and close so it was a short drive.

The boys had a blast running around, chasing balls and meeting new dogs! I am always suprised how brave Hudson is to walk right up to a new dog! After playing around a bit we decided to let them play in the water. The gate was locked but another couple had hopped over the fence with their dogs so we decided to do the same. They loved it! Here are some pictures from our day:

Gone Hikin

So the day after we got back from Palm Springs we woke up bright and early to head up the Oat Mine Trail here in Calistoga! Zac had just bought me a new back pack for our up coming back packing trip so we wanted to test it out.

It was nice and foggy so we were able to take Hudson with us, Hudson isn't good with the heat. We hiked up higher and higher until finally after about 3 miles we decided to call it quits. We found a nice big boulder to sit on for about 20 minutes where we could rest and enjoy the view. The fog finally started to melt away and we were able to just sit and enjoy the Valley below us.

Zac loaded my pack with maybe about 20lbs so I could get the feel of how it would be like to hike with some weight! Let me just say when we got home I was soar! I believe in total we hiked about 6 miles. It was a nice way to start our Friday, especially when we had time to take a nap later :)

Palm Springs

Time for some fun in the sun! Every year my family usually rents a house out in Palm Springs and wants and the kids to come out and enjoy. Zac and I were lucky enough to get work off to head down and visit. We left for the airport on Monday afternoon and arrived Monday evening. My parents met us at the airport in Palm Springs and we headed off to dinner and CPK, YUM!

Tuesday was our day our by the pool. It was over 100 degrees every day we were there so we just stayed in the pool the whole time, which I don't mind. Dana was able to come out and visit for the day, it was so nice being able to spend time with her. We were sure to have her play pool volleyball with us which was so much fun. After we worked up an appetite playing in the pool we all got ready and headed into town to grab some dinner at Chipotle.

Wednesday arrived and we made plans to head up to the tram! Zac had never been on it before and it is pretty cool to check out, so off we went. It was already hot in Palm Springs but as we took the tram higher and higher it really began to cool down which was so nice! When we made it to the top we went out on the different view spots and took some pictures. Then we headed down to one of the small trails Mt. San Jacinto has and did a loop. Once we were done exploring we headed back down to the heat to get some food and see a movie!

Thursday, already time for Zac and I to head back home :( Zac and I woke up early, the usual for us because of Hudson. I decided I wanted to take one last dip in the pool before it was time for us to go home. It was probably around 8:00am and already 80 degrees! After I got out of the pool and took a shower to get ready to go my mom told us she recieved and e-mail from United that our plane flight had been canceled! Zac called, and he was able to get us a flight out at 6:00pm so we would be able to spend the whole day with my family before we left! Things worked out perfect. After hearing the news we decided we needed one more game of volleyball, especially since BJ had drove out the night before and hadn't been able to play yet! After the game we headed over to Palm Desert for one last meal out. One our way back we stopped in down town Palm Springs for some last minute shopping, then it was off to the airport! What a fun trip we had!

Be sure to check out many more pictures on our shutterfly website

Surfs Up

So being from Southern California a lot of people think that I surf, I don't. Well I am happy to say that I had to travel all the way to Northern California to learn how to surf! I have a friend from work that had always been talking about surfing so he decided to take me and another co-worker out to the beach to learn. I was excited to try it out but then people started telling me about how cold the water is up here and I began to get very nervous, Im not good with cold water.

Today was the big day! We met at our office at around 9:30 and then headed over to Aarons house ( our surf instructor for the day) to pick up his board and wetsuit. Off we went to Dillon Beach. It was foggy out but I was hoping for the best! We stopped at the surf shack in Bodega bay to rent our wetsuits and surf boards. We made sure that my wetsuit was nice and thick!

When we got there Aaron gave Manny and I surfing lesson, the basic do's and don'ts. Then we put our booties and caps on and headed out into the ocean! I was so scared that I was going to freeze but when I got in I was suprised to not feel a thing. Slowly but surely some cold water seeped in but it warmed right up. I later found out that the water temp that day was about 53 degrees...brrrr!

After about an hour and and a half of trying to ride the waves I was ready to take a break. I never realized how exhausting it is surfing, the waves just hitting you over and over and once you ride one in you have to try and get back out to catch another wave. I wasn't able to stand up but I did get up on my knees a couple times, good enough for me!

Around 2:00 we decided it was time to get something to eat so we drove down the road to a small little diner and enjoyed some delicous food! What a day!

Motor Swap

As you might know Zac and I bought a 1964 Barracuda. We just love driving it around, it is so much fun! I have never had so many thumbs up, head nods and people yelling out about a car, its a classic.

Zac had a 360 in one of his old vans and it had stayed in the family, so we decided to purchase it from his dad to put in our barracuda! A couple weeks ago we took a weekend to switch out the 318 and put in our 360! It took about two full days to get everything done. I was sure to be there the whole way, I wanted to learn as much as I could so I was right along with Zac un-screwing nuts and bolts!

So once we had the 360 in we started her up and...it worked! It was SO loud with open headers. It would be cool to drive around like that but it's not legal so on Monday we took our car in to get some exhaust. We are loving the new motor!

Beach Day with Hudson

After my family left on Monday morning Zac and I decided we wanted to try taking Hudson to the beach, it would be his first time! We waited till around lunch and then loaded up the barracuda and headed off to Bodega. We decided to stop by Safeway and pick up some sandwiches. As we got closer we could see that it was foggy, we were hoping to have hot weather but no such luck.

The first beach we tried was Salmon Creek, when we got there we found out that they don't allow dogs so we kept searching. We found one that allowed dogs but they chared $6.00 just to get in and we really didn't want to pay that amount for an hour or so, pus we didnt have any cash on us. So off we went to to find the next beach.

We finally ended up a very small secluded beach. Hudson was very excited to run around on the sand! He wasn't to sure about the waves but he got used to them. He would run out into the water but then when a wave would come he would run away as fast as he could! We will definately need to take him back, and hopefully on a sunny day!

Once we finished up on the beach we headed home because Zac and I had a date at the movies! Hudson was worn out from all his running around. He slept almost all the way home.

Happy 4th!

Happy Fourth of July!! Well, we started out the weekend right with my family driving up from So Cal. They arrived Friday evening and stopped by our house to say hello! Mom and dad stayed at the hotel that is about 50 feet from our house while my sister stayed in our guest bedroom!

Saturday morning Zac had to work so we all hoped in the car and headed out towards Sonoma. We wanted to stop by the Lavender fields but they were no where to be found! So off to Sonoma we went. Once we got there we were able to walk around down town and enjoy the shops. Around 12:30 we got a little hungry so we found a place called the Sunflower Cafe and we were able to sit down and enjoy some delicious food. When we finished lunch we hit up some more shops and stopped for some ice cream for dad and Jen. After our day in Sonoma we headed back to Calistoga to relax. We wanted to stay in for dinner so we just ordered up some pizza!

Time for fourth of July! It was such a beautiful day in the valley. We started out our day by walkig into town to see the parade, very small town. Zac was in the parade with the Fire Department so it was fun to be able to see him in the engine. Once the parade finished up we walked back home and waited for Zac to get there so we could all drive into St. Helena to get some Travigne.

After we were full we headed back to Calistoga to start setting up for our big BBQ! My mom had sent me up tons of decorations so Jen and I had a lot of things to do. We had wuite a spread for dinner, veggies, chips and salasa, fruit, cupcakes and pie for dessert! Around 5:30 Cindy and Steve showed up and it was time to start the BBQing. Zac, Steve and my dad hung out on the back porch while us girls stayed in enjoying out Mai Tai's. After stuffing ourselves we walked up to the porch to see the fireworks. We were hoping that we would be able to see them from up there but when they started but there was a tree in the way so we ended up walking outside and then we were able to see them! It was a great holiday weekend, so nice to be with family. Be sure to check out more pictures at our shutterfly website!