Our Chateau: On Holiday, in Northern California with a Toddler

My dear friend, Jessie sent us her wedding invitation. I hung it on our kitchen board and smiled at it for a month. There is a very short list of people whose weddings I have to attend. Jessie is one of them. Luckily, most of the rest of the list is already married.? Since Lilah still counts as a lap baby (free ticket) we boarded a plane together in Kansas City and headed out for our first girls? weekend in California.?

We touched down in San Jose and fell into the arms of my sister-in-law, Jessica and her husband, Jeff. (Check back soon for a more detailed account of traveling with a toddler.) Jessica and Jeff just moved out to San Jose. So Lilah and I started off our weekend by spending some time in their sweet California home with an orange tree out back. ?You may have read enough of my travel posts by now, to know for family trips I like to blend of the sweet elements of a staycation with the adventures of new places.

Despite all of the exhausting travel from the day before Lilah woke up ready to go at 6:30AM. We cuddled in bed until 7:00AM. The rest of the house was asleep so we set ourselves up on the couch with two cups of coffee (one real and one imaginary) and a couple good books.

When Jessica woke up I laced up my running shoes and took off. My oh my, how I have missed the cool bay area breezes. I watched the fog roll off the hills as I ran five miles without stopping for a breath. It was heavenly.

Lilah and the Pacific, Our Trip to Baker Beach

When I got back Lilah and the yorkie settled down for a nap while Jessica and I got ready. Then we loaded up the car and headed out for our first real destination?Baker Beach. We drove through the telltale vertical hills dotted with magenta and blue houses, down streets that smelled like Eucalyptus, past couples on bicycles, and old Chinese men going for a walk. ?Baker Beach is nestled under the Golden Gate Bridge inside the Presidio. There are two free parking lots at the edge of this fantastic very dog friendly, foggy beach. I buttoned up Lilah?s jacket, tied on my scarf, kicked off our shoes, and we dug our feet deep into the warm sand.?

The water at Baker Beach is too cold for swimming and the rip tides are strong. We walked along the shore and swept Lilah up as the waves crashed in around us. Sometimes we weren?t quick enough and we all got soaked. Lilah thought it was amazing.?

There was a crowd of people near the first entrance so we walked down a little further. Baker Beach is a half mile strip of beach. As you are planning your family trips, you should know as you get closer to the Golden Gate bridge there is a little a nude section on Baker. It?s San Francisco though, so it is cold, and usually all you see is an old man wearing a giant sweater with nothing on bottom. Today, luckily for this shutter bug who was looking for sweet snaps of her daughter, there weren?t any sunbathers, and as we walked closer to the bridge, it was like we were on a private beach with a panoramic view of one of my favorite cities.

?After an hour or so of playing together Lilah walked off alone, Jessica settled down by a post made of drift wood, and we all enjoyed an hour or so of own time with the Pacific. Most of my time was spent watching my daughter enjoy this magical time. Lilah got all of her dad?s looks, and all of my personality. At thirteen months old, she was perfectly content to walk alone and look at the ocean, to run her hands through the warm sand, and smile at all the dogs that passed her way.

Easy Saturday

On Saturday, Lilah slept in.? She was so tired from the beach. I sank back into the four poster bed, enjoyed the breezes coming in from the window, and cherished this moment with my sweet, sleeping daughter at my side. Eventually we rolled out of bed. After my morning run, Jessica made us skinny alphabet pancakes. It was the perfect staycation morning.?

We packed the car back up and drove to Ross? beautiful new home in Fairfield. He has a wonderful California lunch ready for us: salmon, asparagus, and corn on the cob. ?Oh, my word, do I miss eating in California. ?Even Lilah loved the perfectly cooked fish.

I told Lilah it would be a late night with lots of dancing and laid her down for a nap. To my delight she fell asleep and slept for more than two hours. My sweet girl wanted to be ready to live it up.

A Wedding at Ramekins

My friend Jessie has remarkable style, so I knew this was going to be a fabulous wedding. It was already a good start when we got to set the GPS to Sonoma. We pulled into?Ramekins Cullinary School and headed upstairs. Jessie's bridesmaids were getting ready in one of the rooms at the inn, and Jessie and Evan were off taking pictures. Ramekins cooking school is rustic (stone walls, an outdoor fire place), and fun (the railing looks like asparagus), it has a formal ball room, a courtyard where you could sip wine all afternoon, and half dozen rooms where a wedding party could have the perfect wine country weekend. Jessie came back to her room, in her dress, that couldn?t have been a more perfect cloud of movement for her spirited personality. We saw each other and both started crying.

The ceremony took place in the courtyard. It was a hot, sunny day in Sonoma. On my way to the courtyard one of the Ramekins staff asked me I would like a parasol for the sun. Why, yes, I would like a parasol. I?ve never had the opportunity to say that sentence before. I sat with an old friend and his girlfriend. Like everything else with Jessie?s wedding, the ceremony had the warm simplicity of being perfectly thought out. There was a series of readings, splashes of bright colors, poignant reminders that we need to do a better job of recognizing love everywhere, and promises that I knew Jessie and Evan would keep.

As soon as the ceremony was over the wait staff appeared with trays of cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. Lilah loved the gazpacho and little toasts with figs and jam. I know, she?s not an ordinary one-year-old. I love that about her.? After some appetizers she switched to twirling the parasols in the sun as I caught up with old friends.

After an hour or so we were directed to the ball room. Jessie and Evan had a left present for Lilah at her spot. Dinner, of course, was fantastic: steak, salmon, vegetable risotto, zucchini. Every bite was delicious. After dinner and cake came dancing. The lights changed and the whole group ran out to the dance floor, including my daughter. I don?t know where Lilah learned to dance, but my goodness, my girl has some moves. She threw her arms up in the arm, shook her hips, grabbed people?s hands, and boogied and swayed and had the time of her life. We stayed until she was so tired she was dancing with her eyes closed.?

I kissed Jessie on the cheek. Lilah was asleep before we pulled out of the parking lot.

Sonoma Sunday

Sonoma is delicious. I was so excited to have a day in Sonoma to plan for Lilah and Jessica, both of whom had never been. We started off with brunch in the Sonoma Plaza.? The town of Sonoma is centered around this square park. Jessie and Evan catered brunch, which meant it was fabulous: fresh fruit, lox, croissants, mini egg salad sandwiches, and tons of laughter. ?Jessica took a walk around the plaza passing the cheese shops, craft stores, historic buildings, and half dozen places to stop for a wine tasting. Meanwhile Lilah and I went back for seconds at brunch and visited with Jessie?s friends over pineapple and tomatoes. Oh, how I?ve missed California tomatoes. ?

After brunch I carefully chose three family friendly Sonoma stops within ten minutes of the Plaza. The first of these was TrainTown. TrainTown boasts to have: "The most well developed scale railroad in the Americas!" I believe it. For $5.75 you get a fantastic 20 minute train ride over bridges and through tunnels with a stopover in a very creative miniature town with a petting zoo. If you?re bringing little ones to Sonoma, think about a visit to TrainTown.?

Next, I got to take Jessica and Lilah to our favorite wine country pizzeria, The Red Grape. I have so many good memories of going to Red Grape with my boys.? In fact, this whole trip was strange without them. Red Grape has delicious wine country pizza, a fabulous patio, and of course, a fine wine list. Lilah and I shared a Tuscan Sun which is a red pizza with roasted garlic, fresh spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and black olives, and is topped with feta cheese. Lilah thought it was about the best thing ever.?

I didn?t want to leave Sonoma without taking my sister-in-law to her first wine tasting. So our last stop was a visit to Larson Family Winery. I put the Ergo baby carrier on my back and Lilah climbed in. I?ll write more travel tips for traveling with a toddler, but seriously wine tasting with Lilah in the Ergo on my back should be enough to sell anyone on this fabulous product. The grounds at Larson are lovely, really beautiful views, perfect lawn for playing on, animals to pet, and plenty of reminders that families and dogs are welcome here. Their tasting fee is $5, but it?s waved if you buy a bottle. Their pours were generous and the staff did a good job of reading people to see how much information they wanted. Their Pinot Grigio was our favorite crisp and refreshing, though the chocolate sauce with one of their big reds was also pretty delicious. ?

Adieu

Back at Jeff and Jessica?s I fell into bed. I was exhausted. In fact I fell asleep before Lilah. And so my wonderful sister-in-law tucked us in, and rubbed Lilah?s back until she too drifted off to sleep. When I woke up an hour or so later the room was dark, we were both asleep dreaming dreams of beaches and trains and delicious foods. ?

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Source: http://ourchateau.blogspot.com/2012/07/on-holiday-in-northern-california-with.html

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