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July 14, 2014

Beach Wedding

It took for a cousin from Minnesota to get married for us to attend our first beach wedding.  While it was a destination wedding for them - Minnesota to California - it was a 2 hour drive and an overnight stay for us.  And memories to last a lifetime!

At the end of June, here was the ceremony location - Asilomar State Beach


Cutie before the ceremony

Daddy & Drew

Family Photo Courtesy Jodi

After an amazing ceremony we shuttled back to the reception site in Pacific Grove (Monterey).

The Sisters
L-R: Aunt Ardy, Aunt Connie, Grandma Geri
 And then we tried to recreate a family photo from my wedding (more cousins for this one)

Front L-R: Lauren, Grammy Kathie, Me
Back L-R: Katie, Jodi, Grandma Geri, Aunt Connie, Linda (Mother-of-the-Bride), Kristen (Bride), Sandy, Aunt Ardy

My Handsome Guys

Awesome "Guest Book"
Fingerprints with your name on the "leaves"

Daddy & Drew dancing
 It was really special that the Pastor who married my cousin, was also the Pastor who married Dave and I... nine years ago!

Dave, Drew & I with Pastor Karen

The next morning we left Drew with Grammy and GrampC and Dave and I embarked on one of my all-time favorite training runs... through Monterey.


Dave & I at the 1/2 way turnaround
The Dunes
After the run we cleaned up, grabbed breakfast and then ventured down to Cannery Row (Monterey) to check things out.



Drew's first trip to Cannery Row


Bubba Gump with Dave & Drew

Ice Cream on the Brain
We had a wonderful time at the wedding and just staying cool (it was in the 100s at home).  It's always great to have a "family reunion" for a happy reason.

July 8, 2014

Future Hall of Famer

When Dave heard that Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees was retiring he knew we had to go to the first game where they played the A's - the game where Oakland would say goodbye to him.  Figuring he will go first ballot into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Dave didn't care what it took to get tickets, he scooped them up the day after the announcement.

Dave's goal was to make a farewell sign that would get on National TV.

Family Photo with "The Sign"

Dave was a big hit while we were tailgating - getting a nod from A's fans and a ton of picture requests from Yankee Fans.

Dave & Nicole

Dave & Drew headed into the Stadium

And it was a hit inside the stadium.  And the thing that meant the most to him - he got the nod of recognition from Derek Jeter.

My photo of Dave, Sign and Jeter (off to Left)
 And a lady from behind us grabbed one on her cell  phone and sent it to us (they drove all the way out from Utah for the game).
Cell Phone shot of Dave & Jeter

Jeter's first at bat.

Dave even made his way around the stadium to show off his sign, show some respect for Jeter and hope to get on TV.

Look on the far side of the stadium to see Dave (under the scoreboard)

The only time Dave got on "TV" was when he was photobombing a kid's interview on the jumbo tron.


See Dave's sign behind the kid?
Dave even crashed my coworker's son's seats...
The bonus for this game... Mario Fireworks night on the field!





So while Dave didn't make it on national television with his sign, he did make it into a lot of Yankee Fans Social Media pages and we had an awesome time at the ballgame.  Yankees shut out the A's 7-0 (A's went on to win the final two games of the series).

July 7, 2014

Camping Shenanigans

Memorial Day in our family means a camping getaway.. this year with my side of the family.  Grammy, GrampC, Uncle Matt and his family of four.  We ventured to a new (to us) campground in El Dorado County on the American River - Camp Lotus.  We got out late thanks to some last minute work on my part and then a boatload of traffic, so we made it to the campground close to 9pm.

So the next morning we got things started early.  Breakfast, mimosas and some Catch Phrase (well the kids did without the alcohol).

L-R: Avery & Drew

Matt just found my camera

A little whiffle ball before the days adventures


Bird Invasion

After cleaning up from breakfast we made our way out for a day of wine tasting.  I forgot my camera so all of the pictures are from my cell phone.

The ladies L-R: Grammy Kathie, Auntie Rana, Me

David Girard Winery

The Kids Keeping Cool & Occupied

The Happy Couple

Family Photo

Wine Club Member area

View from the Wine Club Member Area


Gold Hill Winery & Brewery - Adrina & Drew

Miss Avery

Daddy, Drew (and Adrina)

Stop #3, Nello Olivo Winery
 The best thing that happened this trip was when Auntie Rana suckered GrampC into trying the cinnamon challenge.  There was a ramekin of cinnamon near a jug of sangria and it got Rana & GrampC talking about what you could do with it.  Rana dared GrampC to see if he could eat a tablespoon full of cinnamon without drinking anything or coughing it up.  Here's the video of what happened:





Poor GrampC...
Group Photo (no Drew)
L-R: Matt, Rana, Grammy, Avery, Adrina
Back: Dave, Me, GrampC
After a day winetasting we made our way back and found the American River - across the street from our campsite.

Adrina, Drew, Me

Uncle Matt & Avery
While we were on the shore we saw a "rock bar" where we could try and stake claim the next day.  And that's just what we did.  We spent the entire day in the water enjoying the scenery and beverages.

Uncle Matt & Adrina on the Rocks

Matt & I (rafters in the background)

Such tough guys

Adrina & Drew

Uncle Matt, Auntie Rana & Adrina (Avery was napping)

Family Shot

The American River

Battle of the Cold Ones

Random Rock Art

Avery finally woke up from her nap

This was a great campsite that was one of the least expensive to go to.  We'll be back for sure!