Girls Weekend - Temecula

Why do weekends always go by so fast? I had a great weekend out with the girls. Michelle, Amanda, Natalie and I drove out to Temecula this weekend to do some wine tasting. We visited Callaway Winery, Wilson Creek (we loved their Almond Champagne) and South Coast Winery. We even had a packed lunch picnic at Wilson Creek and the weather was perfect. We stayed the night out there and so also got to lounge by the pool, have a nice dinner and see Eat, Pray, Love with Julia Roberts. It was a pretty girly weekend and we loved it. It's definitely something we will have to do again :)

Jamie's 30th Birthday

Saturday was Jamie's 30th Birthday! To celebrate we had some of the family over and as with tradition got a pinata as well. Of course, we waited until after dinner and after a few beers...

This year we went for a parrot complete with a very trendy and matching pinata stick!

The boys had a great time and the pinata just made it so that each of them could have a go.

I think we need the rope higher next year

The parrot first lost a leg


and most of its candy

Everyone had a great time...well except for the Pinata and the neighbors behind us who must have been a bit surprised to find a parrot leg in their pool along with some chocolates...sorry about that.

Both legs eventually were lost but thanks to a sturdy wire, he was able to just keep it's head.

Happy 30th Jamie!!!

You're a pretty awesome guy and we all were happy to celebrate with you =>

San Francisco

We celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary on July 30th. It's hard to believe we have been married for 5 years. We have so many amazing memories and the time has just flown by. To celebrate, we decided to take a trip to San Francisco for a long weekend getaway :)

We left Thursday morning from John Wayne Airport and we checked into our hotel around noon. Which gave us the whole afternoon to start exploring. We decided to go down to the wharf and take a cruise around the bay.

It was a really nice afternoon and the cloud cover had just lifted letting the sun come out for a while.

We didn't make it to Alcatraz this trip (I've been before with my family) but it was pretty cool to see it from the boat.

We did all the normal sight seeing...Lombard Street

and The Painted Ladies.

But we also did a few other things...like the California Academy of Sciences, this is a picture of their living roof. It was pretty cool and the indoor rain forest was definitely impressive.

Of course, we managed to sneak in a tour of the local brewery. The Anchor Brewing Company has been around since the 1850s, keeping all those gold miners happy and some how made it through earthquakes, fires, and of course prohibition.




It was pretty interesting and there is always something new to learn but the part everyone enjoys is the tasting at the end...6 tastings to be exact.

We also did a walking tour of the Pacific Heights Mansions and got to see some amazing homes and hear some local gossip. We ate at a Michelin Star Restaurant, One Market, which was unbelievable, had a martini at the View Bar on the 39th floor complete with a breathtaking view of the city, rode the cable cars and street cars and basically had an unforgettable time!

Anthony's 26th Birthday

Saturday was Anthony's 26th Birthday. It's hard to believe my little brother is 26! We're getting old. Anthony decided he wanted to go for drinks and listen to Mariachi music. So Laura and him found a place online.

We all had a great time and over 20 people showed up.

We were pretty close to the stage and although it started an hour late it was a pretty good show. The Mariachi's were good but either a bit drunk or going for the comedic side of entertainment.

As the show went on the following acts got a bit riskier and riskier. It's a night we won't be forgetting for a while...

Happy Birthday Anthony!!!

The Griffin House

Today marks the two year anniversary of our house. I can remember going over to the house with a bottle of champagne and some finger foods and eating them on the floor of the living room. Our celebration party.

The house needed a lot of work but nothing a little man power couldn't handle. In fact, we are still working on it (We are giving the side gate a needed face-lift and hopefully getting a much needed front door in the next few weeks and I'm sure there will be more improvements to come).

Seeing the house two years later still amazes me. The fact that its ours and how much we have done to it is still shocking. At first it seemed like so much space to fill and now we are starting to fill the walls rather than empty rooms. It's more than anything we could have dreamed for.

So happy two year anniversary to our house.

4th of July

Sunday was 4th of July and we decided to have a bbq at our house and invite some of my family. It was a really nice day, cooler than last year but nice and sunny. We cooked hamburgers and hotdogs and had a really great time.

Here are all the adults at the "Adult Table."

Here are all the kids at the "Kids" table!

We decided to make cupcakes with strawberry and blueberry toppings. They were a big hit but something else stole the show this year...

My uncle Lionel had been shopping at an antique store in Orange when he came across this hat. He immediately thought of Jamie and decided to get it for him. When Jamie opened the gift he was shocked and couldn't believe that not only did he find it and buy it for him but it said Humberside! Lionel didn't know Humberside was the area that Jamie came from but was amazed when he found out.

And so the hat got passed around...

Aunt Nancy

Andy

Uncle Bob

Jon

Uncle Lionel

Ok, so even I joined in on the fun.

Once the sun went down we let off fireworks. The side gate really came out handy! Our neighborhood gets pretty crazy and slightly resembles a war zone. The park is packed with people, smoke and there are fireworks going off in all directions. It's great to watch =>

Morph has moved to California........

About a month ago I received a package in the post from my Mum. To my surprise I got a "build your own Morph kit". I have been a bit busy so it took a while to build him. Although I think I have some artistic skills, sculpture is certainly not one of them! Anyway, I had a fun time making him and the kit came with a dvd containing 15 episodes. I always remebered the episodes being short but they only last about 30 seconds!!!!

Can you tell which photo(s) is the genuine Morph???????????????????