Sonoma County

A few months ago I came to the realization that we haven’t taken an actual vacation (you know, where you go someplace new for a few days or ideally a week) since Covid started.  Don’t get me wrong, we have definitely gotten out of the city, but there is something about sleeping in a different bed and exploring a new area that feels like vacation.  So with preschool closed for 2 days at the end of July for teacher training, we planned an epic vacation to Tahoe!  It was going to be amazing: a large house in Tahoe Donner with Oskar’s friend Neomi and her parent’s Mika and Charles, biking, swimming, tennis, time on the lake, time with friends and something different.  It would have been perfect… had the smoke from the recent fires not completing destroyed the air quality.  Five days prior to departure, we made the decision to cancel the rental and try to find something somewhere else with better air. 

Five day’s notice to find a house big enough for all of us, was not the easiest, but Martin pulled through with an amazing vacation itinerary!  Three nights at Timber Cove with just our family, followed by four nights at a rental house in Sonoma, one of which would be joined by Neomi and her family.

We embraced the vacation mindset at Timber Cove and made the most of the 3 days.  Friday we drove up to the Point Arena Lighthouse where we saw whales off of the coast, seals in the cove and the impact of a gift shop on young children. 

New book from the gift shop in hand

We celebrated Alva’s birthday on Saturday riding bikes and roller skating at Fort Ross School and swimming in our collapsible pool on the patio at the house.

 And on Sunday we took the kids to the actual Fort Ross for a little history and time spent running between all of the different buildings.  We also picked blackberries both on the drive up and the drive back.  After spending so much time up there these past few months, it was fun exploring something new!

After lunch on Sunday, we packed up and started the drive to Sonoma to meet up with Neomi, Mika and Charles for a fun night at the rental!  But first, we had to stop for ice cream in Sebastapol.

Sunday night went about as well as expected.  Dinner with the two families was amazing, story time with the dads and kids was adorable, bedtime ended in rotating tears between all three kids and sleep finally set in around 10:30pm.

And yet, even after the short night sleep, the kids still seemed to have energy in reserves for the big morning at Train Town. I mean, look how happy everyone is!

 

Tuesday we decided to keep local and mellow and hopefully recoup from the lack of sleep… We walked to Maxwell Park in the morning and then spent the afternoon and evening at my friends Ryan and John’s house.  Their son Nate took some time to warm up to the crowd (and to be fair John took a moment to realize his wife forgot to tell him we were coming) but the time together was so fun.  All three kids, plus the two dads, “swam” in the hot tub and during the tour of their new home, Alva was kind enough to ask where she was supposed to sleep.  The afternoon rolled into dinner delivery and we all left with big smiles and full hearts.

Wednesday we opted to venture a little further north to Veterans Beach in Healdsburg.  Normally a packed sandy beach on the Russian River, we had the luxury of the beach all to ourselves.  And it being midweek, we were able to run across the street to get fancy slushees from Wicked Slush before heading back to Sonoma for one final night.

 

After a solid week of vacation, it was nice to come home and finally sleep in our own beds again.