Would you like some wings with that wine?

I know, I know, the title of this post is kinda cheesy (haha! you can have some cheese with  your wine too!) but I just had to do it!  The whole point of the "wings" with your wine is that Brian and I went to an air show last weekend in Sonoma.  The air show was titled "Wings Over Wine Country" and we had a blast!  The weather started off kinda chilly and a little iffy, but by the end of the day, the sun came out and it was absolutely beautiful!  One look at Brian's sunburned face and my raccoon eyes and you can see how sunny it got!  There were tons of old cars from WWI and WWII, as well as old and new planes.  I have always loved going to air shows...I think they are so entertaining and I am in awe of the people who can fly these planes and not get sick!  They do all kinds of loops and upside-down tricks and somehow manage to keep down their lunch:)  Like most air shows, they had all kinds of fun biplanes and trick planes, but they also had all kinds of military planes.  Brian's favorites were the fighter jets...I'm not gonna lie...they're my favorite too although they are crazy loud when they are flying right over your head!  It's unreal how fast these planes are able to go!  One of them actually broke the sound barrier and you could hear the sonic boom!  All in all, we had a great time watching the planes and looking at all the neat planes and cars that were part of the museum!  

Old WWII plane...this is the kind you see in the movies!

An old Army jeep...they weren't going anywhere fast!

Brian inside a Navy Top Gun fighter

Me inside the fighter...it was cramped up there!  I don't know how they do it!

Fighter

Fighter

One of the trick planes doing curly-cues all the way down

C-17...this plane is unreal!  To put it in perspective...it would take you 4 days to fill up the gas tank at a normal gas pump!  A C-17 is one of the planes they use to fly troops over to the Middle East.  The wing spand of this plane is about 50 yards...half of a football field!

Sitting inside the C-17

Random people getting in the back of the C-17

And the fun continues...

Soon after my brother and his girlfriend left, my long time friend, Susan, came with her fiance, Joe.  Susan and Joe flew into Sacramento on the 10th, where I picked them up.  We stopped on the way home in a cute little college town called Davis, home of UC Davis for those of you who are familiar with it.  Since Susan and Joe really wanted to see San Francisco, they decided they would go straight to San Fran that day and stay there for a few nights.  Unfortunately, Brian and I couldn't make it so the two of them unknowingly volunteered to be my guinea pigs for a train system known as BART (Bay Area Rail Transit).  One of the stations is pretty close to my house so I dropped them off there and it took them all the way into the city.  I love my friends, but I don't love the traffic so this is a great option for anyone else who wants to come visit!  It also saves me some money since I don't have to go through the $5 toll roads...that's right 5 freaking dollars...no just 50 cents or a dollar like I was use to, but a whole whopping 5 bucks to and from San Francisco.  Not to mention, the traffic is generally terrible!  Anyway, Susan and Joe stayed in SF for two nights and then took BART back up this way where I met them and then headed out to Muir Woods.  We went to Napa on Friday, and on Saturday, Brian was able to join us so we went to Monterey and Carmel.  Although the weather was kinda crappy that day, Monterey and Carmel might be two of my favorite places!  It was absolutely beautiful...not to mention the houses were ridiculous!  I am definitely making plans on going back there and making a weekend out of it...I already told Brian that Carmel would be a great place to celebrate our anniversary next year!

Sadly, on Sunday, Joe had to leave so he could get back to work, but Susan was able to stay with me until Wednesday.  After dropping Joe off at the airport, Susan and I decided to go to El Dorado National Forest to go hiking since we were already about half way there.  It's unreal how clear the water is and how beautiful the view are!  We had a great time and were definitely worn out at the end of the day.  The next two days were full of shopping and laying out by the pool catching up on girl talk stuff and planning Susan's wedding.  We had a great time!  I was looking forward to their visit since we got here and I can't believe that they are already gone:(

Sus and I by a big tree in Muir Woods

Joe and I in a big tree

Sus and I at a winery

Wine tasting:)

Lover's Point in Monterey

The lovers on Lover's Point

The other lovers on Lover's Point

Just your ordinary tee box...yea right!

At least they try to warn you...

I just think this is a cute picture:)

Hiking in El Dorado National Forest

Attempting to take a picture of ourselves

More Visitors!

A few weeks ago, Jon (my brother) and his girlfriend Kelly, came to visit us!  They flew into San Francisco and I went and picked them up.  After I picked them up, we went down to the wharf and to Pier 39 to see the sea lions, go shopping, and to get something to eat.  Jon and Kelly were here from Wednesday to Saturday and we did a ton!  We went to Napa and Muir Woods, and then went back down to San Francisco to see some more stuff:)  Unfortunately, we weren't able to go and see Alcatraz like we wanted because tickets were sold out for the next two weeks:(  Either way, we had a great time and we miss them already!

Kelly, Jon and I at the Golden Gate...it was freezing!

Jon and Kelly

Jon and I at Castle Winery

The crazy clouds as we were taking Vida for her daily walk by my house...the clouds blanket the mountains like this all the time!

Jon, Kelly and I outside of Castle Winery

Jon and Kelly on our way to Muir Woods...we were literally in the clouds.

Tallest living things on the planet!

A few weeks ago, Brian and I made a trip to Muir Woods National Forest to see the giant redwood trees...not to be confused with the giant sequoia trees.  Many people think they are one in the same but actually, they aren't.  The giant redwoods are the tallest living things, although they are still rather large around, while the sequoias are larger around, but not as tall.  A redwood generally is about 22 feet around, but a sequoia is between 40 and 44.  Either way, we drove over to Muir Woods to see the giant redwoods and then decided to hike around for a little bit.  It really was beautiful!  We saw a little snake and a banana slug, which is a slug that is yellow and the size of a banana, hence the name:)  Anyway, here are some pictures from our trip!  

View on the drive to Muir Woods

Brian by a tree...just for comparison so you can see how big they are.

On the hiking trail

Banana slug

Great trail to be on right?!

Top of the trail

A fallen tree...it's taller than Brian

A fallen tree turned into a bridge

Me inside a HUGE tree!!

Not your typical beach!

So I am waaaaaaaay behind on blogging but I'm going to finally try to catch up today so get ready to read a couple of posts!  First of all, I wanted to post some pictures from our trip to the beach.  Now, this wasn't the kind of beach that is probably in most of your heads...it's completely different because it's the middle of the summer and it's FREEZING!!!!  We both were wearing jeans with longs sleeve shirts and jackets and it  was still chilly!  The crazy thing is that there were kids swimming in the water with regular bathing suits on!  Of course we had to bring Vida since she had never been to the beach before...let me tell you - it was a complete mess!  She met some other doggie friends and played frisbee in the waves the entire time we were there.  She then decided to give herself an exfoliation treatment and rolled in the sand!!  Needless to say, we had to take her to a do-it-yourself dog wash place on the way home...too bad the dog wash place doesn't have a car wash place next door!  That would have been nice! 

Vida rolling in the sand

Beach

One of the kites we flew

First Visitors

About 10 days after we moved in, my parents decided to fly out here to visit for a long weekend.  They came in on a Friday afternoon and left early in the morning on Monday.  It was a short visit but we had a great time!  Here are some of the pictures!  

At the fountain at V. Sattui Winery

Wine tasting

Pickin' some grapes!  Not really but we just wanted to take pictures in the vineyards.

Castle Winery

Castle Winery