A Hoot

From singing "Whiskey in the Jar" with the banjo, mandolin, and guitar; to dogs galore; to night hiking; to camping in the vineyards, we had an amazing weekend.

Hootenanny Fun

We drive south from San Luis to Amy's family's vineyard: Four Acres Farm. It's the second annual Hootenanny, complete with Amy's homemade wine, Jesse's slaughtered and delicious lamb, and instruments galore. We pass incredible fields of marigold on our way to meet the cutest new member of the Freeman-Cuellar family: Mr. Malloy.

SLO

We drive up from LA to San Luis Obispo with Michael and Ceci, and meet Tyler's friend and former colleague, Anne, for lunch.  In smallest of small world coincidences, it turns out that Anne went to the same elementary and high school as Molly, my roommate in Hyderabad (in the Blue Mountains of Australia!)

We hang out SLO for the afternoon, perusing watch shops and buying a mandolin cover.

Agenda for the evening: drink.

We meet Tyler's San Luis buddies at a bar called Black Sheep, where we proceed to order nearly 200 cans of PBR beer, drinking them entirely out of their can beer supply by 8pm.  The trend continues after dinner, where each buddy ups the ante by ordering 18... then 19... then 20 rounds of a drink at one time.  Oh what a night...

Cheers to Mr. Walt!!

Disney has certainly grown up since the last time I was there! A beer tasting at Ovu Wine Bar and lobster Mac & Cheese at House of Blues with Michael and Ceci.

The Scream

There's a fine line between terror and delight...

We laugh and laugh when we see our Tower of Terror photo... While nearly everyone else seems to be enjoying themselves, Tyler and I are huddled in the back corner bracing for our lives! My scream is girly and shrieky; his is more a scream of disgust: "What are you doing to us?!"

We calm down with some Monsters, Inc., then head back to the park after dinner to check out Soarin' Over California (where wind blows as you "fly" over the water and scents of orange release as you pass over groves). We are quite impressed with the World of Color (think Bellagio fountains, but with color, fire, and Disney films projected on the water). We end the night with California Screamin' - a super fun roller coaster with an amazing view of the night park all lit up.

We leave after the park closes, amazed at our awesome day. Thank you, Mickey!

California Adventure

While we poo-pooed it at first, we fell in love with California Adventure!! Built in 2001, the amusement park harkens back to Victorian era seaside wharfs, 1920s Hollywood, and the romance of Route 66. When Mickey started singing and dancing with the cast of "Newsies", we knew we were hooked! The new Cars Land and Radiator Springs Racer were superbly done, and we were excited to get drenched in Grizzly Peak.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah!!!

It's a universal truth: things that seemed enormous and shiny and new as kids are much less magnificent as adults...

Despite our initial disappointment ("is that the MAIN castle?!"), the rides ended up even more fun than we remembered!!!

Our favorites were easily Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones, and Pirates of the Caribbean ("Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A pirate's life for me!")

Peace, Love, and Mickey

From live jazz to "Beauty and the Beast" in Legos to watching the fireworks, our night in Downtown Disney only makes us more excited for our upcoming Disney adventure!!!

Lunch with a View

I was never for private beaches... Until we were on one. (Thanks Brian and Danny!)

The Circus that is Santa Monica

Video proof

Shooting a Baretta 391 automatic shotgun, coached by our awesome teacher Cindy, who is also a classical ballet dancer.

Fun times at the range