Tyler's Birthday EXTRAVAganza

EXtravaganza:

Tyler's Birthday Extravaganza began with a small family dinner before Dennis left town :) Ghetto homemade cake and all

the boy and papa ;)

Lita and Tyler had some fun in trying to say goodnight - he got poked in the eye because he's so tall that she didn't see where her hand was going as she was trying to touch his face :) so...he came down to her level to help her out :)

And the lovely (half eaten) ghetto cake

(I know, mom, it's not ghetto just because we used butterscotch chips to write out Tyler's name!)

ExTRAVAganza:

I thoroughly enjoyed myself in planning a weekend get-a-way for Tyler and I. To start, Friday after work, he was handed a red envelope telling him we were about to set off for a fun weekend.

We spent the weekend following google maps - just making sure that we knew where we were going each time we got moving ;)

Sadly, we got there after dark, so the excitement wasn't quite there upon arrival :) Our first stop was to Ann & George's B&B in Paso Robles. Their home sat atop a hill with vineyards surrounding them. more b&b pics down further

Saturday, we got on a trolley and went wine tasting. So much fun!! We met some fun teachers and peeps from our group (no pics of the peeps).

Us at the Robert Hall winery

...Tobin James winery....

....and Mr Tobin James - he seemed a lot younger than I imagined he'd be.
We learned that we have a new favorite wine: the Syrah or Petite Syrahs were our favorite in each winery. -fun Boyd fact, I guess :)

Sunday we had birthday mimosas with Ann (who shared a birthday with Tyler!) and the group. They were so cute! They sang happy birthday and were just a really warm and sweet couple. It was very nice to be around them.

After breakfast we headed out to take a walking tour of the grounds.

- a view from the back yard.

and the start of our walk

a view of the house...from half way through our walk :)
...and from another part of the walk (can you see the house?!)

While we were out and about we saw this sign and thought, wouldn't this be a neat name for a girl? (no not sneaking in news, just a thought!)

It's definitely MUCH easier going downhill than it is up!! Here is me being dramatic :)
(or was i?!)

After our walk it was time to say goodbye to Ann & George - but not before Tyler got a birthday present from Ann!! She gave him an artichoke plant! He's so excited - now we just need to learn how to 1. grow them:) and 2. marinate them!

this post is getting long...and if i wait to post until i finish putting this together it will be a bit - so stay tuned to part II of Tyler's birthday!