CA 14 Pt 1:Sunny, Ceremonial, and Scenic

Ah, that California sun!


Flew down to Oakland last week:


Had the pleasure of attending Geoff and Lauren's wedding:

Didn't get any pictures of our own unfortunately, but luckily their photographer is awesome and posted everything online for us to enjoy.


Did I mention that sun?

Great time. Put on our ties, saw some old friends:


Like Rodrigo:


And Aiko, pictured here behind us on the cute little train that ran around the wedding venue:


Speaking of kid-friendly stuff, they also had a treehouse with a ladder, so that's not bad:


Not a bad setup for dinner either:


And Jeremy was looking good of course:


A few more favorites from the professionals:






Even one with Andy, who we hadn't seen in what, like fifteen years?

Great time. Congrats everyone!

Luckily we also had a little time to relax in Los Gatos, where the wedding was held:


Including spending the morning at the awesome Blossom Hill Park, which among other excellent attractions includes the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad:

All aboard!

A nice dinner back in Oakland at the KangNam Pho House:


So close:



Great seeing everyone!



Speaking of seeing everyone, thanks to a serendipitous Facebook post we found out that Dave and Diana were also vacationing in California that same week. So glad we got to see them!

And so glad Emily suggested meeting them at the Scenic Drive-In, an excellent little roadside restaurant in Modesto. Yum!


They were on the way back from the same spot we were heading: Yosemite!
More on that soon!

Cheers to Marisa & Dave & Montana!

Glad we were able to make the trip, put on some nice clothes, and toast Marisa & Dave over the weekend.

We had a ball! (Okay, okay, sorry.)

All the excitement made it hard to get a shot of the happy couple, but someone did share this one with us:

(Thanks Facebook)

Long way from Seattle to Lincoln, MT, but our travel experience was considerably improved by this new friend of Franklin's:

Found at the airport, supposedly modeled after the Washington State Ferries.

As Franklin likes to say, "big boat!"


Also had a nice time showing Franklin all the taxidermy (what can I say?) at the Hi-Country Trading Post. On our second visit he was basically flawless at pointing to and naming the elk and the moose :)

It was pretty chilly outside, but we took a quick tour of their playground. Love these swings:


The wedding itself took place at the Hotel Lincoln:

(Thanks again, Facebook)

Now an outside wedding in Montana in late September is maybe a dicey proposition, but the weather turned comfortable just in time. (Just don't ask about the cleanup the next day.)

Of course, an outdoor wedding in relatively comfortable weather isn't exactly an invitation for Franklin to sit quietly and celebrate two lives becoming one.

Especially when all these toys were just sitting there behind the crowd:


Fun toys at the reception too, especially the photo booth run by
Six Shooter Photo:


With my sisters:


Love this set with Grandpa Ray & Grandma Rhonda's friend James:


Speaking of Grandma & Grandpa:


At breakfast at (where else?) the Bootlegger Casino:


And finally, I love this family photo taken at the Staggering Ox back in Helena:

(Thanks Gilbert!)

Great to see everyone! Congrats!

A Friendly Review

Lot of fun we're trying to squeeze in this week—can you believe it's the last weekend for the wading pool??—it's been tough to find time to post much lately. So, here's a quick attempt to get caught up:

Great seeing so many friends recently! Deron and Haley spent a few days in the area, and Franklin enjoyed showing them around Capitol Hill:


And we even convinced him to stay home with a babysitter one night so we could show off a couple of spots he's still too young for, like Sun Liquor:


The extra, exciting twist was that Jeremy and Aiko were also here at the same time, scouting out possible jobs and neighborhoods:

Sure hope it works out—would be great to see everyone more often!

Trying to help them fall in love with the Emerald City, we took them on the water taxi and spent a nice afternoon in West Seattle:


Franklin suggested some activities:


But we opted for more delicious food from Marination Ma Kai instead:

Great setting, great food, great company!



And of course Franklin did his best to make our little apartment look like a charming place:







Hope to see all of you again soon!


Bonus photo! This is from almost a month ago, but I love this photo that Monique sent us from her & Jamie's wedding:

Rosé and string cheese: yeah, we know how to bring the party :)

Congrats, Jamie & Monique!

Beautiful celebration for a beautiful couple.

Huzzah!

Weren't able to get any good pictures of the two of them ourselves, but luckily we have an anonymous source:

Thanks, Facebook!

Hopefully we'll eventually see photos of the ceremony, which took place at the very charming Parsons Gardens.

In the meantime, I love this shot Emily got of us:


Great summery spiked lemonade on offer at the reception:


Also saw Wendy and Roman, which is always fun:


Even Franklin put in an appearance at the reception:

Cheers, Jamie and Monique!