Christmas Fun!

We have been enjoying the holiday festivities here in California! Chet and I attended our neighbors Santa party. Although Chet was intrigued by Santa...he would not sit on his lap. Unfortunately, Finn was home sick with dad.

Dave Falca... our fabulous host!

Christmas morning!

Yesterday, Finn and dad headed up the mountain with friends to go sledding for the first time!

Finally...a picture of Finn taking advantage of a gorgeous winter day in California to play with his new pitching machine...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Wells Family Christmas Tree!

It was a beautiful Sunday when we headed up the mountain to cut down the Wells Christmas Tree! It is by far the largest tree we have ever had!

After cutting down the tree...we headed to a local winery to picnic with friends. The weather was so nice...that we stayed until sunset. The kids ran around and played in the sandbox...while the parents socialized and consumed good wine! It was a great day...

Finn's Birthday!

Finn turned the big 5 last weekend!! On Saturday, we celebrated at home with family and presents. On Sunday, we took the party to John's Incredible Pizza Company, which is a mini version of Las Vegas plus carnival rides. The party was a joint celebration with Finn's BFF Trevor, who turned 5 two weeks ago. Both boys enjoyed the party and celebrating the evening with friends. Chet enjoyed eating cake...especially the leftover scraps off everyone's plate!!

Bodega Bay

This past weekend, we camped on the coast at Bodega Dunes State Park, which is just north of San Francisco. The weather was perfect...upper 70's, sunny, and no fog! We spent most of our time playing on the beach. Unfortunately, low tide was late in the evening...too dark to go tide pooling. The kids were so exhausted Saturday night...they fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow. Greg and I took advantage of the rare moment and enjoyed the campfire...which was almost ruined by an unexpected visitor...a skunk! He decided to munch on Belle's food...just a few feet away from us...tail raised high and ready if needed. Thank God he spared us! After spending Sunday morning on the coast...we headed towards home. On the way, we stopped at Armstrong Redwoods State Park. Although we have seen countless redwoods since our move to California, their size still amazes me! Leaving the redwoods, we took the scenic route through Sonoma and Napa Valley...some how we resisted stopping for a glass of wine. Here are a few pictures from out weekend...

Malakoff Diggins State Park

This past weekend, we took a trip to Malakoff Diggins State Park. The park is the site of California’s largest "hydraulic" mine, located in the Sierra Mountains. Hydraulic mining was a technique which washed away entire mountains to find gold. As a result, there are huge cliffs carved by the streams of water. Finn's "BFF" Trevor came along on the adventure...