Miami County Wine Trail Tour

This past weekend Trenton planned out a day for us at some local wineries.

 

We started the day at Nighthawk Vineyard & Winery.  It is located just south of Paola which is only 20 minutes away from us.

We clearly beat everyone else out that day cause we were the first ones to arrive.  Fine by me... more pours in the tasting room when it's just me, Trent, and the owner ;)

Trent had packed a picnic lunch for us and we pretty much had the choice of any seat in the house.  We picked the spot that was nearest the wind chimes and had the best view of the pond.

 Bottle 1 to have with our lunch.

 The grapes on the vine ready to be harvested the next day.

 Ignore the wire in front of the grapes- they said the birds were nuts this year.

 

 It was the most beautiful day out.  70 degrees, light wind, blue skies and sunshine.

 Ran down the field just in time for a dip ;)  We LOVED Nighthawk and enjoyed how peaceful and serene it was.

Stop #2 on the Wine Trail Tour- Somerset Ridge which was just 5 minutes down the road from Nighthawk.

It was much busier and active than the first one.  They had just had a harvest that day so there was lots of people, fun, and live music going on.

They have triple the number of wines that Nighthawk has so we got lots more samples here :)

 Trent's choice from their vast selection.

 Perfect September day!  We highly encourage doing the Miami Country Wine Trail.  There's three wineries and vineyards that you can visit all within 10-15 minutes of each other.  We only hit up two of them on Saturday so now I know which one we'll be visiting soon....

Days 10-13

 Day 10: Something I Made
The office/scrapbook room is still a work in progress but one of my last projects of the summer before heading back to work was making these curtains.

 Day 11: Something Fun
The Mother's Day gifts we made for our moms this year were the little teacup birdfeeders that I blogged about back in April.  As a souvenir from our cruise this summer we all bought teacups in Cozumel and Trent made 4 birdfeeders for everybody.  I love the one we have in our backyard.

 Day 12: Close-Up
Trent wanted me to take pics of how much our grasses grew this summer in the corners of our yard... while I was out there a butterfly flew up and let me get in really close.  I got about 13 shots in before he flew away.

Day 13: From A Distance
Yesterday Trent planned a fun day at some local wineries.  It was the perfect day to have a picnic lunch and enjoy several bottles of wine :)

Day 9: Faceless Self Portrait

Not gonna lie... didn't feel that into today's photo challenge.  We just got home from stuffing ourselves at our fave Mexican restaurant for my mom's birthday so I'm kinda in a Mexi-coma right now...

  

The challenge was to take a faceless self portrait.  Does that mean I'm in it... minus my nugget sized noggin'?  Does it mean to take a picture of something that represents me......?  Too tired and stuffed to figure it out I just set the camera to automatic, hit the timer, and loved on the furbabies who needed some cuddle time after being in their kennels all day :)  Day 9... donezo.

Photo Challenge- back on board!

Remind me to never start a "fun project" the week before I head back to work.  What was I thinking?  But now that September has rolled around it's time to get back into the blogging world and my 30 day photo challenge!

Day 8: Technology
Clearly I included our desktop computer.  I spend more time on the laptop doing fun stuff (facebook, blogging, blog-stalking, pinteresting) but grad school homework which has consumed my life for the past year and a half has been done on this bad boy.  Once that ends (6 more weeks!!!) I may never sit here for hours at a time again!!! 

Baby Jax

Welcome to the world baby Jax!  While we were in Emporia last weekend for a DD tourney we got the surprising phone call that Kim was being induced- 3 weeks early!  Mom and baby are both doing well and we were thrilled to be in Emporia the same weekend of his arrival!

 

We were there to witness the first time he peed on good old Dad :)  Kodak moment for sure.

 I think he was much happier being back in mom's arms.

 Only 1/2 a day old :)

 The next person that says I look like a natural or that I need one of my own is going to get poked in the eye ;)  I like getting my baby fix via friends and family.

 Poking eye rule applies if you refer to this guy as well lol.

 He was swaddled up so snugly... and I especially loved how his hospital hat made it look like he had horns- adorable.

Charles was definitely a proud papa getting to show off his little man!

 And Baby Jax got his first shout out at the family motorcycle shop- he's a pretty big deal!

Day 3- Labadee, Haiti

 Guess who is back to work and is neck deep in a research project for grad school??  I'm so behind on blog world that I'm not even gonna go back to stalk see what I've missed the last week and a half.  To make myself feel better there's nothing better than blogging about a little piece of paradise, right???

 Our boat docked that day at Labadee which is a private port that Royal Caribbean owns.  Which means that only their boats and customers can use it.  It was clean, pristine, and our favorite beaches of the whole trip.

We had a short 10 minute walk to Columbus Bay where we quickly picked the best spot for our beach day.  There was hardly anybody there when we arrived.  It was awesome.

White sandy beaches+sun chairs under a palm tree= Heaven

This was Bob's first time seeing/being in the ocean so he was a lot of fun to watch as he took it all in :)

My idea of a perfect day will always include a raft.  Growing up with a pool at my parents' house I was able to master the art of getting on a raft without even getting wet.  It's a true talent ;)

The beach was perfect that morning... not crowded at all.  It was like our own private beach.

 Quality family pic with the waterproof camera.

 Corona hit me up... I'm available for commercials.

 These male models are available for advertisements as well. 

My new favorite pic... isn't he a cutie :)

Not wanting to leave the perfect beaches :(

A little shopping before we loaded the boat again...

Now... I don't want to give you the wrong impression.  The beaches weren't 100% perfect.  We did see WAYYY too many speedos for our taste... Ashley must've wanted a visual reminder when she took this pic ;) 

Saying goodbye to Haiti to load the boat

View from back on the boat- my finger is showing exactly where we spent our beach day.

 After the perfect beach day we enjoyed a fun night back on the boat at dinner, the shows, and the casino.  We went to bed ready to get to our next stop... Jamaica! 

J-Fe's Topless Maid Service*

We had the pleasure of hanging with J-Fe this evening and as always this girl kept things exciting.  I was making dinner (I actually cooked for once!  Hamburger Helper counts when there's a little one around.) and Trent was changing from work clothes to softball clothes.  It got really quiet and Trent hollered for me to come here.  This is what we found.

 

She moved the pillows, got on the couch, and covered herself with the blanket.  She was saying "night night" and patting Harlee.  Poor Harlee looked confused that it was bedtime already.

Are those not the faces of 2 very ornery girls? 

 Then after dinner she decided that she was in the mood for some cleaning.  I'm not complaining but I don't know if I'll be recommending this maid service to anyone else...

 First of all... this maid sat down on the job.  If I'm getting a maid I expect them to be working, not sitting!

 This maid also sags her pants and lets her belly hang out.  She likes to rub it as well.

 Then when the maid hits herself in the head she'll look at you like it's your fault.

Lastly... this topless maid will quit early, shove the broom in your hand, and then demand your drink because she doesn't want hers.  Don't know if we'll be hiring her again anytime soon ;)

*If Jeryn really does become a topless maid in her adult life I know who will be getting the blame and will get kicked out of the family.  I'd like it in writing now... Tia says go to college Jeryn!!!