Pre-Wedding Weekend Adventures

I'm going to have to do this in at least 2 parts. So this is the intro to my brother Jeff & Kenzi's Wedding Weekend Extravaganza! We had such a great time up in San Luis Obispo and stopping along the way there that it's going to have to be a multi-part blog. On a side note, I also went back to work for the past two weeks, and I have feeling a bit tired and overwhelmed, so that's why this blog is a little late. Luckily yesterday was my last day of work and I am now officially out on maternity leave! Hope to catch up on a little blogging in the next week or two.

So this is the start of our fabulous loooong weekend (Wed.- Mon, July 13-18). First stop on the way up was Santa Barbara for dinner and to check-in on our friends Sarah & Nick and baby Emmett! They're such a cute little family, and Grady loved seeing Baby Emmett!



That night we stayed at Pea Soup Anderson's in Buellton. I have driven by it a million times in my life, and for some reason have always wanted to stay there. Check that off the list!

Solvang was only 3 miles away, so we walked around a bit and had some breakfast. If you've never been there, Solvang is and adorable little Danish town filled with shops, restaurants, and little hotels- definitely worth stopping by!

Here's Grady in a giant clog.

My breakfast- strawberry crepes. Yum.

Thursday night we got to check an even bigger wish off my list- we stayed at the Madonna Inn in SLO, which I've wanted to do since I was young. Every room is a theme room, and there's all kinds of fun little touches on things. Not cheap- but soooo worth it! We had a great time there, and even got to sleep-in and have breakfast at the cafe there by ourselves- thanks mom and dad for taking G that night!

We stayed in the "Highway Room," which had a big rock fireplace and a rock shower with actual rocks taken from building local highways. I guess Mr. Madonna was a contractor and many of the rooms have rocks from his construction projects.

Rock shower and lovely Madonna Inn pink robe (they love pink there!)

We enjoyed the pool too that was heated to a lovely 80 degrees.

The fancy toilet was pretty entertaining too. My mom and I really got a kick out of it. Anyone who knows us knows that we spend a lot of the day using the bathroom. Even more so when I'm pregnant!
We went to "The Farm" in Avila that Friday to feed some animals, eat some yummy fruit, and try some blackberry ice cream with our fam + Kenzi and her mom and sister. Grady loved it there, and I really did too.



On Saturday us girls in the wedding got our nails done and we had lunch at the hotel with family. Grady had a blast hanging out with his cousins, daddy, "Poppa Mike," Bobby, and Bob at the hotel and in Pismo. That night was the rehearsal dinner at McClintocks in Pismo Beach. We had a great dinner and Jeff & Kenzi both looked wonderful!



We just couldn't resist ordering the "turkey nuts " off of the menu. Yes, they were really what they said they were- turkey balls! We had a fun time making everyone try them and taking pictures! :)


Bobby and Jeff- talking over any last minute details for tomorrow's ceremony! Bobby's getting to be a pro now- he was their officiant, and we were all so excited to see what they had planned. We knew it would be a beautiful ceremony and reception!
To be continued...