Russian River

We went on our annual trip to the Russian River July 18-24th. As always, we had a wonderful time and enjoyed the beautiful river views and cooler temperatures. Lots of wine, good food, and family time! Unfortunately the house that we had last year that we all loved was already booked so we had to get a different house. This house looked amazing in the online photos and so we booked it without having looked at it in person. It certainly was a gorgeous home but it was not very kid-friendly (lots of stairs) and it was located right off the highway in the middle of a blind curve so it felt like you were playing Russian Roulette every time we pulled in or out of the driveway. Scary! Nonetheless, we had a great week and made the best of it. The home had gorgeous river views and a beautiful property.

We stopped at V. Sattui on our way over to the house and picked up lots of yummy cheese, bread, and salami.
The first night there we did a blind wine tasting paired with appetizers. Each couple brought 2 bottles of wine so we had 8 altogether. We tasted and guessed price and varietal. Always very fun and somewhat amusing. Sadly, my favorite was not the $100 bottle-it happened to be the $8.99! Funny how not knowing the price can affect your palate!

We did lots of wine tasting while we were there and of course barrel tasting at Sunce. Lucca was thrilled to reconnect with their youngest daughter, Zemi, who is the same age as her. We took a morning walk through the amazing Armstrong Woods. The girls were in awe of the majestic redwoods and the serene quiet of the forest.

Ryan and Suzanne cooking dinner

The girls got to have a picnic on the deck each night! How fun!

We went to Bodega Bay for an afternoon and had some seafood and beach time, although it was pretty cold and foggy!We went to Korbel for their Jamaica in July event, which we hadn't been to in several years. The food was delicious and the girls enjoyed all of the blow-up toys they had floating around. There was a live band so they got to dance, too.We went Pee-Wee golfing at the neat little course in Guerneville. Siena had a blast playing on all of the obstacles while we golfed.

Lucca enjoyed learning how to play dice with Uncle Ricki. She ended up being pretty good!

Once she had the hang of it she tried to teach Luciana and Siena how to play!

Siena and Luciana in their matching Buster Posey shirts!

The river backdrop provided for some great pictures...