On a recent stormy day, I went to Apple Hill with Jess and her son Ian. It was rainy off and on, which made for some extra fun.
It was Jessie's first real time experiencing Apple Hill, with the exception of a run we did up there a few years ago. We ate apple donuts, apple cider, buffalo burgers, steak fries, and beer. Yep, we toured the Jack Russell Brewery, which I have wanted to do since my early 20's, having grown up in the foothills.
With the rain and being there on a Monday, it was the perfect time to see Apple Hill, especially with two kids in tow. No one was out so there wasn't any traffic to deal with and even though you could tell the salespeople were recovering from a crazy weekend, they were nice and friendly to our kids. We toured the little craft fair and came home with trinkets, pumpkins, donuts, beer, apple butter, caramel corn, and probably more but I can't remember it all.
And this "chick in a box" made for a ton of looks and laughs among the crowd.
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Last weekend we visited the central coast. Our friends have a family beachhouse that we have been lucky to visit over the past few years and this time was my favorite. I don't know if it was because Maggie was a part of it or because of the wonderful company this time around or because we didn't try to do so much stuff in a weekend where it makes my mind reel.
Michael is the hardest outdoor worker I know. He loves being outside so much and often tells me fond stories from his childhood. Most recent was how he loved raking leaves. It cracks me up.
It snuck up on me. So I celebrated with cupcakes. I bought four different flavors - red velvet, pinkalicious, blueberry cheesecake, and coconut cream. Yum! Don't worry, I shared. 
It's a week of celebrating. It started with a night out with family and friends. It wasn't the big party I was imagining, but it was great and made for some laughable memories. Still to come is another fun dinner and a day out shopping with mom.
I'm starting to understand why they use no sleep as a form of torture and why my sister has been telling me over the past two years that it's really hard to function when you are constantly up at night with a baby and not getting good sleep. I always thought it was funny how everyone would ask us about sleep and whether any of us were getting any because overall, the past 8 months have been pretty good to us. I really didn't understand...until now. 
We were given a lot of hand-me-downs for her room and a lot of the items are blue and white but there is this undertone of rose pink, so I incorporated it on the walls and love it. Below are the cute knobs my sister and I spotted at Target and she suprised me with pink ones awhile ago. They go perfectly.
We didn't get any trick-or-treaters, as all of the kids were up the street where the action was. So we loaded Maggie up in her stroller and took a walk. 
We were amused by the going ons up there...decorated houses, a haunted garage, moms laughing loudly as they walked with their red plastic cups, and all sorts of costumes out and about. My favorite was the toddler dressed as a dinosaur. So cute.
Highlights included tidepooling out back behind the beachhouse and Adam catching multiple sting rays, the night tour at Hearst Castle, the Elfin Forest nature walk, the 7-mile walk from the beachhouse to Morro Rock, the homecooked king crab leg dinner, and getting to know a very interesting couple.
