The last days of summer

I'm really behind with my posts, so my next few entries may seem out of order, but since we just got back from our beach vacation and it's fresh on my mind, I'm going to write about that.  So here it goes...

Pensacola Beach...our end of summer vacation!  I had never been to Pensacola Beach and honestly, prior to moving to Atlanta, I hadn't really ever been to the panhandle beaches.   When you grow up in Central Florida, you just don't go way up there since Daytona and New Smyrna are so close as well as Clearwater and St. Pete.  And, I wasn't even a big beach person when I lived in Florida.  But after visiting the panhandle over the past 6 years, I have really grown to love going to the beach and really have very little desire to ever visit another beach area in Florida.  You just can't beat the beaches in the panhandle...the water is beautiful and calm, the sand is so white, the beaches are clean and just the whole environment is much more laid back than the highly commercial/super busy beaches on the east coast.  And I think they are just better for kids since you don't have the waves you have on the east coast.  If you haven't been, you need to go!  Seaside, Sandestin, Seagrove, Navarre, and Pensacola beaches are all beautiful!!

So, when we heard that Pearl Jam was playing at the DeLuna Fest in Pensacola Beach, Kahn and I bought tickets and booked our trip to Pensacola Beach!  And I am so glad that we went.  We stayed at this awesome, awesome resort on the very east end of Pensacola Beach, Portofino Resort and Spa.  It was luxury at its finest.  We got a great deal on a condo that looked out onto the gulf (view above), but also had a view of the Bay.  The resort had 8 pools/hot tubs with a main clubhouse with two infinity pools, two hot tubs and a bar! If you know Kahn and I, you know we loved the bar, especially a bar, with a waitress that served us cocktails in the pool!  And of course, the kids loved the beach and the pools!  It was so relaxing (heaven, actually) laying out by the pool, with drink in hand, watching the kids have the time of their life every afternoon. And we couldn't have asked for better weather.

This was actually the first time my kids really enjoyed the beach and the water and the sand.  They LOVED the water this trip and the waves (which were super tiny but they thought they were huge)...we literally had to fight with them/bribe them to get out of the water each day.  We spent every morning at the beach, came home for lunch and naps and then headed out to the pool in the afternoons.  To say my kids were completely exhausted by 6pm is a complete understatement!  We definitely could have stayed a few days longer though...it was sad leaving paradise this morning!

I also should mention that my parents met us there and spent the weekend with us.  We asked them to come to help us watch the kids when we went out at night, but it was also just a really nice time for them to spend some time with the kids.  My kids adore my mom and see my mom a lot considering we live 500 miles away. But they don't get to see my dad as much as he doesn't come up as often as he works and it's harder for him to getaway.  So, my kids loved getting to spend 4 days with Pop Pop and I loved that he had a few days of down time to relax and be lazy at the beach.  And we definitely needed the help with 3 kids, 3 and under, on the beach and at the pool.  The extra pair of hands was necessary!

So in between just an awesome family vacation, Kahn and I were able to sneak away two of the nights to go to the DeLuna Fest.  We saw Pearl Jam on Friday night and Zac Brown Band on Sunday night.  They were both GREAT shows.  I've seen Pearl Jam two other times, but it had been a really, really long time since I'd seen them.  Kahn and I had a blast and literally danced and sang the entire show.  I wanted to include some video of Pearl Jam performing that I took on my phone, but when I watched it back, I realized that you couldn't hear Eddie Vedder at all, but instead me and Kahn screaming/mumbling along with the band.  So I will save you all the pain of hearing "Kahn and Trish singing Pearl Jam".  And Zac Brown Band on Sunday night was great too.  I hadn't seen them before, but they are so talented and their music is so fun...we had a blast!  The concerts were definitely worth the trip down to Pensacola.

So, so long summer! Our Pensacola Beach getaway was a great escape to celebrate the end of an amazing summer!  We had such a great time with the kids and we look forward to our beach vacations next year!  As Zac Brown would say, "Life is good today".

Celebrating with Wine!

It was a day to celebrate Kahn's MBA graduation.  It was a day full of wine. And as you can see by our table at lunch, lots and lots of wine!  Maybe a bit excessive?

But for Kahn's graduation, I surprised Kahn with a day of wine tasting in the North Georgia mountains.  And it was just one of those super fun days that we'll remember and probably talk about forever!

We gathered a group of our friends, rented a 15 passenger van and headed up to the mountains that morning.  We surprised Kahn in the Minihan's basement at about 10am.  He had no clue what I had planned so that was kind of fun.  We had donuts and bloody mary's and mimosas to get us warmed up for a day of drinking.  About 11, we loaded up the van (with us and our booze) and headed north.  We had lunch reservations at Monteluce at 12:30 and ate lunch on the terrace overlooking the vineyards.  Lunch consisted of great food and about 6 bottles of wine.  All delicious!  And the views of the mountains and vineyards were spectacular!

Following Monteluce, we headed over to Wolf Mountain for a tasting and then ended the day at Frogs Town winery.  We tasted lots and lots of wine, met lots of great people and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  We had an absolute blast!  And at about 6pm, we headed back to Atlanta.  The van rides may have been some of the most memorable parts of the day, and I vaguely remember the ride home, but what I do remember is that we laughed a lot...a lot.

You may be wondering about the wine in Georgia.  It's actually decent and the wineries are absolutely beautiful.  I wouldn't lie.  We've been to Napa and Sonoma and Oregon wine country and the Georgia experience isn't too far behind.  As everyone knows, Kahn loves wine and actually knows a lot about wine from his many years of working in high end restaurants.  And even him, with his experienced palette, thinks the wine in Georgia isn't that bad.  And even if you don't love the wine, the views from the wineries are beautiful and it's just a really fun experience tasting wine all day with some of your best friends.  I highly recommend everyone that lives in Atlanta to spend a day wine tasting in North Georgia.  It's a great time! But definitely have a designated driver.  Thank you, Tomis, for driving our crazy group through the mountain roads!

Here are some pictures from the day.

I am so proud of Kahn for finishing his MBA and giving us an excuse to celebrate all day with endless glasses of wine!  I love wine and I love you, Kahn!  Congratulations on your MBA!

Now who's ready for Napa?