The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

So, I have lagged on keeping up with my D23 membership and all its happenings.  Luke has been waiting for me to find a show that I could take him to.  Finally, I found one he would love and on Saturday we made the trip up to The Walt Disney Studios for a "From the Vaults" screening of "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad".  He was so stoked!

We got all checked in, got our free litho print gift and Luke picked out our seats for the show!

One of our commemorative 65th Anniversary Lithos...

They Have really made these events extra special.  We got to hear a choir sing a never before heard song that was cut from Mr. Toad.  We found out that they are publishing books full of songs written for Disney movies that were either cut or never used.

Then they had a presentation by a film professor, detailing the relationship and collaboration between Walt Disney and Bing Crosby. 

Then we got to watch the movie...

And the bonus???  They allowed us to shop at the Employee Store for an hour after the screening!

 He was so excited to get prizes from the store...

 And he loved checking out the Studio lot...

 It was such a great day to spend with my Lukey!  A day neither one of us will ever forget!  I love making memories with my kids.  And I love the special days I get with them!

Field Trip Friday

 Fridays are my days off.

So, when Gavin asked if I could drive to Torrey Pines this past Friday for a field trip, I was so happy to do so!  When I asked what they would be doing, he said just hiking and hanging out.  His teacher said I could just drop them off or hang out too.  I don't get to be down this way often, so I thought taking advantage of being this close to the temple, I would go do a session.  Krista Vargas was driving for the field trip too, so I asked her if she wanted to join me.  She accepted!  So we went together and had a nice session and lunch in the cafeteria.  Then we headed back to Torrey Pines to enjoy the last hour of the field trip hanging out on the beach.  Not a bad way to spend the day!

Napa

Last weekend, I hopped on a plane with these 2 ladies...

 We flew to Oakland for a quick trip to Napa to celebrate our (early) October Birthdays!  We met Renee there and spent the next 48+ hours enjoying our time together again!  Vicky's SIL lives in SF and is a DJ at an ultra-exclusive private club called The Battery.  She made arrangements for us to have lunch and tour the facility.  Whoa!  This place was amazing!  4 floors of architectural and interior design yumminess!  And the lunch, Chicken Salad and a cucumber lemonade were delicious!  My favorite room was the Library.  Check it out-

It was a beautiful clear day in SF and we took a walk down to the Embarcadero to take in the view...

 We got ourselves a sexy Ford Edge to drive around for the weekend...

We hopped in and headed north to our first stop...

The French Marin Cheese Co. in Petaluma!

We bought $40 worth of cheese and crackers!  I hear its good with wine, but I enjoyed mine with a cherry coke!

After we stuffed ourselves with cheese, we drove into Napa to check in to our home for the next 2 days...The Old World Inn.

 This place was adorable!  Thankfully, it survived the earthquake that hit the area two weeks prior.  Our original place was "red tagged" and it was recommended we stay here instead.  We got an insanely good deal because of the quake and we were so pleased with it!  We were on the top floor of one of the adjoining houses. We got all settled, freshened up and then headed to downtown Napa for Dell's Birthday Party!

Yep!  Dell's birthday just happened to be a couple days before our arrival, and he invited us to join him and his friends for a little party at Eiko's.

 I feel out of place in bar settings. But my friends are very good at making sure I'm ok.  I enjoyed a coke and kept an eye on my girls.  We had a great time mingling with Dell's buddies and I loved being able to chat and re-connect with my Bottle Rock friends!

 Dell & his party left just when the bar brought in a DJ for dancing.  So, we had ourselves a little dance party and had so much fun!!!

We danced our little booties off and then walked back to our little B & B for a nice relaxing night of sleep!

We woke up and enjoyed the amazing breakfast provided.  It started with Strawberry Soup, followed by Mac N Cheese Frittata and a Chocolate Chip Scone for dessert!  Yum!  

Then it was off for a fun filled day of wine tasting!  My job was to drive...and I loved driving through wine country.  It is beautiful.  Our first stop was one of Dell's...

Thanks to Dell, we had reserved seats at the VIP Club Room.  We picked a table on the patio because it was such a pretty day.  Our host was Miguel and I learned a lot about Wine.  While the girls did their tastings, I enjoyed my Cherry Coke and cheese.  

And then Brad showed up!  He saw that we were in town and he lives in San Jose.  He made the 1 hour and 30 minute drive up to join us for the day.  It was so good to see him!

After Freemark, we stopped in St. Helena for more treats and shopping...

Then we headed down to Yountville to check out Mumm Napa.  Look at the view...

This place was fabulous!  The girls did a champagne tasting and I got to try their non-alcoholic sparkling grape juices!  I liked the dark one the best!

After Mumm, we headed into town to meet Dell for drinks at a yummy place called R + D Kitchen.  They had a fountain with lilly pads....

And we had to have a pic with Brad's porsche...

We were pretty tired from all the fun and relaxing things we did all day.  But we stopped by our B & B and freshened up, then headed to The Thomas at Fagiano's in downtown Napa for dinner.  It is a rooftop restaurant with an incredible view of the city.

Dell came to tell us goodbye.  It was so fun being able to spend time with all of these amazing people.  So lucky to have friendships that have stood the test of time for 20+ years!

We slowly made our way back to the Old World Inn and went to sleep.  We woke up both happy and sad.  Happy for the memories we made and the fun we had, but sad, because it was time to go home.  We enjoyed another exquisite breakfast at the Inn and then hopped into the rental car for the drive back to the airport.

 I loved every minute I got to spend with these ladies.  They are all remarkable and have always been and always will be very special to me.  I am thankful I got to do this trip and be reminded how lucky I am to have them in my life.  We can't wait to do it again!