Summer Vacation

We are back from vacation and back into the swing of things! Madeline and I caught a little cold on the way back so we're trying to get lots of rest. 

We had a nice trip to both Napa and Rochester, but it is nice to be home. Traveling with a little one can be exhausting (as I'm sure many of you know). Madeline actually did pretty well, but struggled with bedtime and nap time. She would sleep fine, but getting her to sleep was a challenge. At home, we just put her in the crib and she goes right down. Being away from her crib and bedroom and her normal routine must have thrown her off. Fortunately, she jumped right back into her routine as soon as we got home. 

George and I flew up to Napa on Saturday morning. We checked in at our adorable hotel, Napa River Inn. It is a boutique hotel right in the heart of downtown Napa. It was walkable to shops and restaurants. They even provided room service breakfast every morning :) On Saturday afternoon, we visited three wineries in Napa and surrounding area. They were all gorgeous! On Sunday, we met up with my co-workers and headed out to the NASCAR race in Sonoma. One of our customers is a headline sponsor for the race so we went to support them. It was my first NASCAR experience and it was very interesting! The people watching might be the best part ;) It was extremely loud -- we all ran down for earplugs after the first lap. That night, we had a group dinner with my co-workers. On Monday morning, I went to a meeting for work and George did some work back in the room. In the afternoon, we headed to the airport to fly to Rochester. 

We had a great trip to Rochester. Madeline loved playing with her cousins outside! We made sure to soak in the cooler temps. 

I didn't get pictures of everything from our Rochester trip. Not pictured is my Grandma Clark's surprise 80th birthday celebration. She turns 80 in December, but we took advantage of having the entire family together. Also, the Warren and Adamek families got together for swimming and dinner. I might have to get someone to send me the videos of us playing Heads-up at dinner! 

Here are some pictures of Madeline and her cousins (Paisley, Parker, Caleb, and Seth) at the Strong Museum. Madeline happens to LOVE Elmo so she was in heaven in the Sesame Street exhibit! 

 

The Strong Museum also has a Berenstain Bears exhibit complete with a restaurant, garden, barn, basically an entire mini town. Madeline thought she was working an 8 hour shift in the restaurant...she LOVED it!! :) 

 

  

Another highlight of the trip was our day at Seabreeze! I have great childhood memories of Seabreeze and it lived up to the memories....only I don't member the water being so cold when I was a kid! :) 

 

  

On July 4th, we spent time at the lake with family. I captured these cute pictures out on the beach...

 

I love these pictures of the kids. I'm so glad that someone suggested that we get a picture of all of them :) From left to right: Sadie, Paisley, Parker, Madeline, Seth, Caleb