bonding with the fam bam

After spending the first two weekends of April with my girlfriends, the weekend that passed was another busy one as we spent it driving around, hanging out and having fun with my husband's relatives.  Fil's cousin Sandy and his family spent the last 3 days of their 5-week vacation in the US with us and though short and hurried, we managed to squeeze in a couple of sightseeing trips in Fairfield and Napa Valley. 

In Fairfield, we visited Travis Air Force Base and idled the night away at Toto & Chi's house (Toto is also Fil's cousin).   In between packing and repacking Sandy's luggages and boxes - making sure they don't exceed the 50-pound limit per box -  and feasting on dinner, the boys (Fil, my brother-in-law Frendale, Sandy & Toto) talked about the good old days when they were young and crazy.  I've heard the stories many times before but i swear they get funnier and crazier with each telling :) 

Saturday we drove to Napa Valley and my son was thrilled to have his cousins with us in the van.  They laughed and joked and cheered and sang to my husband's funny Tito-Vic-and-Joey playlist LOL! 

We headed straight to our favorite winery Castello di Amorosa not so much for its Italian style wines which we didn't really care about but more so for its 13th-century inspired Tuscan style Castle perfect for picture-taking (think: Facebook!).  It's also great that they have an area where kids can color and enjoy their grape juice while mommies/daddies sample the wines at the tasting bar.  We had a blast! Especially because all we did was laugh and joke about our drinks.  When our server told us the white wine he's pouring on our glasses could be paired with  smoked fish, Toto blurted out in our own dialect that it would be perfect for "bulad" or dried salted fish that Filipinos love to eat eventhough it smells like rotten shoes when cooked hahaha! Who knew wine-tasting could be this fun?!  By the way if you ever find yourself here and you have next to zero knowledge of wines like me, i highly recommend "Fantasia", a sweet soft sparkling wine, low in alcohol (7%), with bright aromas of cherry, exotic flowers and wild berries. You'll love it! 

After touring the castle we stopped by Beringer Vineyards but it was 95 degrees outside and everyone was hungry and tired so we didn't stay long.  We ended up having lunch at Jollibee in Vallejo.

We all spent our last night in Fremont...more last-minute shopping and packing, kids running around, the big boys laughing about their crazy past (again!) and me and Chi getting some make-up tutorial and tips from Tetet who, among other things, sidelines as make-up artist back in the Philippines.  No way I'm letting Tetet board that plane without her teaching me how to blend my eyeshadow! :)

We had so much fun guys... and we miss you already!

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