BottleRock Napa Valley

I have wanted to go to BottleRock (a music festival in the Napa Valley) since it started a few years ago. My lovely husband had no interest, but at dinner with friends one night the other wives mentioned that they wanted to go, too. So the husbands got together, and got us girls tickets (VIP tickets, even!). Lucky for me, my parents live in St Helena, in the Napa Valley, so we had a place to stay. Unfortunately, our son had a baseball tournament in Half Moon Bay, and since my husband is a coach, my daughter was at loose ends. My parents were out of town, my nieces, who were both living with my parents at the time, were working (one at BottleRock), and so I wasn't sure what to do with Olivia. However, in researching information for our trip to the event, I learned that children of a certain age could get in free with a ticketed adult. So Olivia got to be a "Little Rocker" for the day. She was a trooper, and we all had so much fun. We got temporary tattoos, rocked the silent disco, ate good food, and more. I had contingencies for Olivia -- my aunt living in Napa, and my two nieces offered to take her home early, if she got tired -- but Olivia hung with the big girls to the bitter end. Singing and rocking with Walk the Moon, Michael Franti, and especially Florence + the Machine. It was really hot, and such a fun day! I didn't want to carry my big camera, so these are shots from my phone before it died -- I need a new phone....

Everyone loves a parade

San Carlos Hometown Days is an annual event that my children look forward to every year. There is a hokey parade that has more people marching in the parade than actually watching the parade. There are bounce houses, a rock climbing wall, bungee/trampoline jumping, a zip-line, food from local restaurants, booths with exhibits about local causes, an art competition, the school district librarians sell used books, and more. I walked with my kids in the parade this year. It was fun, but with the exception of the group right in front of us, I missed the whole parade. It was fun to see a few friends along the way, but next year, I think I might just watch. I want to see the fire trucks and the marching bands. Everyone loves a parade!

Spontaneous can be good

We decided against going to the Mountains to play in the snow for Spring Break, because there wasn't much snow left. And we thought maybe a "staycation" would be nice. The turning point came when our daughter came up with an idea for a day trip that was not popular with Mom & Dad. So on Monday morning at 10:30 Dad was checking the weather and hotel availability for Pismo Beach. Both looked good, and so two hours later, we were in the car on our way to Pismo Beach. The hotel turned out to be in a great location, right on the beach, and they had make-your-own waffles at the included breakfast. The kids were in heaven. The weather was great, the crowds were light -- we had Spring Break at an odd time -- and we had a great couple of days. We left on Thursday as the rain was rolling in. 

Independence

Times are so different from when I was a kid. It's fun to see these 5th graders stretching their wings a bit with an unaccompanied trip downtown. I'm sure I did things like this when I was much younger.

Fun in the front yard

"Look what I can do!"

A trip to the library

To get out of the house, we went for a walk, and ran into some friends at the library.