Weekend Away with the Babiaks

My in-laws made another visit to Northern California this past week. We've been very spoiled to see them so frequently. (This is not a normal year!) They spent a day in the city before heading up to Napa Valley to enjoy a weekend of wine tasting.

They arrived on Wednesday and joined us for homemade dinner of Potato-bacon soup and biscuits. We taught them one of our new favorite games, "Bang" and played for a while before turning in for the night.

They left the next morning for Napa and Chris and I joined them on Friday night after work. They had already had a full couple of days of wine tasting so we took it slow on Saturday and enjoyed driving further north to take a tour of Sterling Winery. The winery was on the top of a hill and looked to be quite large from the road. The only way to the entrance was via aerial gondola! The property was beautiful and the tour was nice. We ended the tour with a special tasting of their reserved wines on an outdoor patio. It was a perfect afternoon!

Afterwards we made a stop at Frank Family Winery. They were small and quaint and very personable. But we really didn't stay there long.

For lunch we went to the French Blue. Yelp had described it as "casual classy" which I would agree with. I wish I would have taken a photo of the seating because it was so unique. The chairs were almost like lounge patio furniture, some of it wicker with large cushions. The decor was white and simple but I felt it was cozy and elegant at the same time. It also had an open kitchen which made the space look even larger. Everyone had great food and left refreshed and satisfied.

We stopped at another winery just to pick up a few bottles that we already knew we loved and then headed back to the condo. After a delicious salmon dinner we had an evening of games. We played "Seven Wonders" and a few more hands of "Bang." I love playing games with Chris's family.

On Sunday, we headed back to the city and caught up on the usual weekend chores. For dinner we all went out to Suppenküche for German food and beer. After dinner we drove over to the Bay Bridge to watch their LED light display which I hadn't even heard of until our guests mentioned wanting to see it. Apparently, there are 25,000 white LED lights on the Bay Bridge individually programed by an artist to display patterns and pictures on the side of the bridge. It was actually very cool and I probably could have sat on the pier and watched them for hours. But it was Sunday night, which meant we had to go home and get ready for Monday morning. (I never like that feeling.)

My in-laws left on Monday morning, but we'll see them again next month as Chris's brother is getting married in Texas!

We had such a great time with them and felt truly blessed to have a weekend away with them in the beautiful Napa Valley.

My in-laws made another visit to Northern California this past week. We've been very spoiled to see them so frequently. (This is not a normal year!) They spent a day in the city before heading up to Napa Valley to enjoy a weekend of wine tasting.

They arrived on Wednesday and joined us for homemade dinner of Potato-bacon soup and biscuits. We taught them one of our new favorite games, "Bang" and played for a while before turning in for the night.

They left the next morning for Napa and Chris and I joined them on Friday night after work. They had already had a full couple of days of wine tasting so we took it slow on Saturday and enjoyed driving further north to take a tour of Sterling Winery. The winery was on the top of a hill and looked to be quite large from the road. The only way to the entrance was via aerial gondola! The property was beautiful and the tour was nice. We ended the tour with a special tasting of their reserved wines on an outdoor patio. It was a perfect afternoon!

Afterwards we made a stop at Frank Family Winery. They were small and quaint and very personable. But we really didn't stay there long.

For lunch we went to the French Blue. Yelp had described it as "casual classy" which I would agree with. I wish I would have taken a photo of the seating because it was so unique. The chairs were almost like lounge patio furniture, some of it wicker with large cushions. The decor was white and simple but I felt it was cozy and elegant at the same time. It also had an open kitchen which made the space look even larger. Everyone had great food and left refreshed and satisfied.

We stopped at another winery just to pick up a few bottles that we already knew we loved and then headed back to the condo. After a delicious salmon dinner we had an evening of games. We played "Seven Wonders" and a few more hands of "Bang." I love playing games with Chris's family.

On Sunday, we headed back to the city and caught up on the usual weekend chores. For dinner we all went out to Suppenküche for German food and beer. After dinner we drove over to the Bay Bridge to watch their LED light display which I hadn't even heard of until our guests mentioned wanting to see it. Apparently, there are 25,000 white LED lights on the Bay Bridge individually programed by an artist to display patterns and pictures on the side of the bridge. It was actually very cool and I probably could have sat on the pier and watched them for hours. But it was Sunday night, which meant we had to go home and get ready for Monday morning. (I never like that feeling.)

My in-laws left on Monday morning, but we'll see them again next month as Chris's brother is getting married in Texas!

We had such a great time with them and felt truly blessed to have a weekend away with them in the beautiful Napa Valley.