The Day after the 4th

Mornings are great times for games. Today we were back to the Mexican Train Dominoes game. Following a trip to Cowgirl Cafe and the Nipomo Native Garden, we settled into some quiet time and prep time for tonight's dinner with Bob, Sandy, Julie, and Lee. Spaghetti Carbonara was accompanied by a great salad and an amazing truffle dessert accompanied by a McKeon Phillips 2005 Port that Julie had "laying around!" To cap the night, the kids did a fireworks display. And thanks to Julie, we now have a keepsake McKeon Phillips wine bottle.

Smith & Hook and Dunning wines
went well with the homemade sourdough
bread that Jen made.

Julie's Truffle dessert

Don't let the sediment fool you.
The Sir Winston Port was great.

4th of July

We started the day with a game of Five Crowns, but have yet to play the final round (13-card hand, kings are wild). Then swim team practice at AG High. We knew there was going to be a parade going through Nipomo and tried to avoid it, but as it turned out, we end up IN the parade, at least for a short while. Lastly, we all went to Gibson's house for all kinds of afternoon gaming (volleyball, horseshoes, etc.), dinner, and fireworks. And, of course, meeting up with all the Reguscis who made it to town the day before. All the day's photos start here. The new Yeti and some dry ice kept the ice cream sandwiches solid for hours!

Smoky Pineapple and Tequila Punch

We had to make a special run to Von's in Grover Beach for Orgeat, a key ingredient to the cold-smoked pineapple libation Trevor found in Food and Wine magazine. So, why not stop in at Lido for breakfast!? Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the girls were whipping up about 60 cupcakes for tomorrow's 4th of July party. We also made another batch of 12 dozen oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip cookies for the 4th. Dinner was from Me and Ed's in downtown Nipomo. We finished off the day watching the Dodgers beat the Pirates. All the day's photos start here.

Cookies, Games, Sushi, and Fireworks

It took a while, but we cranked out the first gross of Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies for our 4th of July extravaganza. Batch #2 is tomorrow. We also (re-)learned how to play Five Crowns. After a fabulous dinner at Kanpai Sushi in Shell Beach, we visited a firework stand in preparation for the 4th.

Batch #1 of Oatmeal Raisin Chocoloate Chip Cookies

Five Crowns

Swim Meet and Bubbly

Swim Meet at Arroyo Grande High School! Hannah and Abby both swam several races. Nana and Papa followed up with a stop at Laetitia Winery for some bubbly. We cruised through the rest of the day with a Dodgers/Royals baseball game, a jerked chicken dinner, and the last half of Kindergarten Cop. All the day's photos start here.

Matteo, can you print one of these?!

 

Santa Barbara by Train

This was a favorite getaway for us when we lived in California... A day trip to Santa Barbara by train! We got into Santa Barbara a little before 9am, and did whatever inspired us for the day, which today included: breakfast at Moby Dick's on the wharf, the Sea Center also on the wharf, the amphibious tour of Santa Barbara on the Land Shark Tour, the Brewhouse with its fabulous peanut butter whipped cream pie, and re-exploring the huge Moreton Bay Fig at the train station before returning home. All the day's 200+ photos start here.

Moreton Bay Fig at the train station

PTA Luncheon and SLO Railroad Museum

While Lynn had lunch with the "old" PTA mom group, Jamie took some outside shots at the San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum. We both enjoyed a stop at the bar at Ventana Grill on the way back to Nipomo. Home-cooked short ribs for dinner! All the day's photos start here.

The Betsy, who we met at the Ventana Grill.
Lemon juice, 1 part agave syrup, 2 parts Vodka.