where should we go today???

brian had thursday july 5th off. we originally planned to go to lake tahoe for the day so that gill and george could see one more great California destination. BUT- we got to thinking about it and it would make for a very long drive and a ton of miles... so- they chose to go to napa again! (didn't have to twist my arm...)

we had an amazing day discovering ALL new things in napa valley. we were told the day before that in the town of calistoga, north napa valley, there was a geyser and a petrified forest. say what?!?!

we thought those two things would be kid friendly, plus interesting to the adults too- and paired up with a new winery that we had been wanting to go to- it sounded like the perfect day...

we arrived at the geyser at 9:30am. now, this is a legit "old faithful geyser" and one of only three in the world- yellowstone, new zealand and calistoga, california! http://www.oldfaithfulgeyser.com/

this is what it looked like when we arrived-

very little steam and a faint sound of bubbling...

then about 40 minutes later- watch out! 

IT WAS AMAZING! not nearly as large as yellowstone i am told, but so unique and impressive!

they also had a little farm at the geyser site. the coolest thing- 4 horned sheep! check out these horns-

i'd never seen 4 horns, and 4 GIANT horns at that!

next up- and just 5 miles away- the petrified forest! who knew? this petrified forest has the largest trees in the world because of the giant redwoods- pretty darn cool!

that is what petrified wood looks like- kinda grey, shiny with glitter (HA!) and HARD!

we actually decided to skip the 90 minute tour through the forest, as it would have cut into our wine tasting time... hehe. we WILL go back though. tate especially was interested. (he takes after his dad for sure.)

next up, lunch. we had reservations at the highly acclaimed restaurant, Rutherford Grille but last minute decided to try the Farmstead Restaurant. We are SOOOOOO glad we did. it may go down in history as  one of my top 3 lunches EVER! (the other two were in switzerland and carmel, ca- in case you were wondering.)

this restaurant grows its own produce and raises its own beef. it was farm fresh. from garden to table for sure! here are brian and the kids standing in the garden-

the restaurant and patio where we ate-

VERY happy customers-

the property was amazing- 

while the adults checked it all out, tate laid in the (perfect) grass and opened a book! macy, of course, followed-

tate discovered these little apples growing on vines-

how unique, right?

macy, messin' with a bull-

after lunch, we walked to their tasting room- this beautifully renovated home built in 1847-

it was perfect to be able to have our wine tasting outside- along side a horseshoe pit that the kids loved!

if you are in the area, GO TO THIS RESTAURANT! http://www.longmeadowranch.com/  (you can apparently go tour the actual beef farm too!)

next up- castello di amoroso, "the castle winery" to locals. we have a few friends that are members here and we have tasted their wines on several occasions. the brochure looked amazing, so I've been wanting to go see it. 

boy is it impressive! http://castellodiamorosa.ewinerysolutions.com/index.cfm?method=homepage.showpage

it took 30 years to build the winery. the motto is "you can't fake this" because it is all supposed to be crafted by hand, with materials from italy...

i gotta say- it felt like i was in tuscany and looked very authentic-

the view made me feel like i was back in italy for sure!

the kids did awesome. and even though i wasn't blown away by the wine (the winemaker has another winery, v. sattui- which we are members of), i loved that they had a tasting room for families equipped with a large table, crayons and coloring sheets- and grape juice!

here are the kids crossing the drawbridge-

there is even a wet moat!

the kids were looking in the moat for alligators-

on our way home we decided to stop at a fish market in downtown napa. then we discovered that on thursday nights, they have the "chef's market" downtown- with live music, cooking demo's, food trucks. crafters booths, kids activities and wine tastings! it was such a lucky find. we all enjoyed a couple more wine tastings while the kids had their face painted and got empanada's for dinner!

i love discovering new places. this was the perfect day of finding new places to love!