Sippy started daycare on Thursday. And while the daycare seems totally lovely and the people are ridiculously nice it was a little traumatic for everyone involved.

It seems like it wouldn’t be a big deal – Sippy has been under the daytime care of the Super-Nanny or Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop since she was three months old. She loves that time and practically kicks me out the door to go to work when they arrive. But this was different.

This was at someone’s else’s house.
This was with a bunch of kids neither of us knows.
This was with caretakers neither of us knows well.
This was hard for both of us.
(Why yes – we did both cry. Who wants to know?)

At the end of the day on Friday – Day Two – I went to pick up Sippy. She was not crying (well until she saw me then she started running towards me at full speed wailing – big faker) and so I was happy that things were improving. Daycare Lady let me know that Sippy was doing really well adjusting – that she gets sad sometimes but she gets over it with some lovin’ and distractions – and that there were lots of times when she was happy and playing and dancing and hugging too. She mentioned that it’s great that Sippy has alot of words and likes to talk alot. She was very sweet and re-assuring.

And then Kid #2 chimes in: “Yeah – She cries alot too.”

Darn kids.

Sometimes as a Mama I feel like I should be with my Sippy all the time. I work full time (and am glad that I do) but this means that on the weekends I REALLY feel like Sippy should get my undivided attention. It’s hard for me to take an hour or two to myself – and Sippy doesn’t exactly make it any easier by having a big ole crying fit every time I leave her sight.

So – I was a little nervous to take a whole weekend day and night away from my Sippy.

But – you know what? It was absolutely fabulous. And Sippy was a total trooper. (She is clearly wise beyond her years.)

And so – this weekend Daddy and I headed to wine country in Russian River for a much needed mini-break. I had to toe the line between playing with my camera and totally annoying Daddy with my obsessive photo-taking but I think I managed to pull it off. (Right, Daddy?) We had a great time with lots of wine drunken, food eaten, and sleep gotten. (We slept in until almost 8am. Whoa!)

We started out with some wine tasting…

and relaxing…

in the beautiful countryside.

Lots of the wine was lovely and some a little naughty.

After wine tasting we progressed to the fine art of hotel room relaxing…

And enjoying our view of the tiny town of Occidental.

We did alot of eating and a bit of drinking, combined with a side of going to bed way before the party really got started in that tiny winey town.

And then we woke up and did some munching at the brunching followed by some driving…

Down an EPIC road (according to one of the winery guys). We were not let down.

We stopped to take a few pics but you kind of had to be there to really do it justice. (Or maybe be a better photographer than me. Whatevs.)

We made our way back through Point Reyes Station – a cute little town filled with bikers on their kindles. You know – the usual San Francisco types out for a leisurely 50 mile morning bike ride. (Um yeah, sometimes I do feel like an underachiever here.)

Instead of being all healthy and stuff with the bike riding we headed to the bakery and got lemon bars and scones.

Totally the right call – in case you were wondering.

Then we headed back home to big smiles and hugs from the Sippy. (And a cold shoulder from the Pup who was kind of pissed that we left. But thats ok – we think its kind of cute that he cares and gave him lots of pets to make up for it.)

Much fun had by all.

p.s. Thanks Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop (formerly known as Grandma and Grandpa) for taking such good care of the Fam while we were away. Everyone is going to miss you greatly when you head off soon on your new adventures!

My California Dreamer.

This weekend, I am happy to say, everyone was healthy. Hooray!

And it couldn’t have come at a better time cause the California sunshine was streaming in and it was absolutely amazing outside. With Daddy off skiing the not-so-snowy mountains of Tahoe with the boys (see – I’m totally the best wifey ever), Sippy and I were left to our own devices. So of course we headed to the beach to soak in the rays!

As we were driving over to Chrissy Field to meet a friend and her beautiful daughter I had a wierd deja vu of single days – driving the same road at the same time to meet the same friend but with a wetsuit instead of diapers; towels instead of toys. (Ok so I totally could have used a towel or two on this trip too but I kind of forgot that ocean = sand and surf = messy toddlers. Oops.)

And even though I loved swimming in the freezing cold Bay back in the day (yes I always have been a little loco) I have to say I felt more content going to play with my little bundle of sunshine. And if you knew me in my single days or say, 20 months ago, you would be just as suprised as I am.

I even managed to learn some important stuff about photography on the trip too like if its really totally stunningly gorgeous out and you are going to meet a friend with a really totally lovely little girl and a whole bunch of really totally cute dogs roaming about you should maybe think about charging your camera and bringing a spare battery with you so that you can document the moment in more than just your head.

You know, maybe.