Fourth of July in Walla Walla

For the Fourth of July this year we went to Walla Walla with Kris and John to do some wine tasting.  These wine connoisseurs have never been before.  Can you believe it?  Me neither.  We rented the same house we stayed at for Randy's reunion and were able to take our dogs.  The house is within walking distance from downtown and is a perfect place for us to stay.

All packed up and ready to go!

Poor Trey has his tiny little spot within the carseat
and that's about it thanks to our carsick dog.

Amy had just taken her kids on a long road trip,
so she let me borrow some of her games and toys.

Here's Trey on the Etch-a-Sketch. 

Randy spent his formative years in Walla Walla, and his parents still have a lot of friends who live here.  We have been trying to get together with Missy and Kourt in Portland, but for some reason it was easier to get together in Walla Walla.  We went to Missy's parents' house for dinner, and it was perfect weather to sit outside and let the boys run around.

Walking back to the house from breakfast at the Maple Counter Cafe...one of my favorite spots in Walla Walla, and that's saying a lot considering all of the delicious wineries.

Trey chillaxin' in our first winery stop 

The main reason I wanted Amy's travel kit was to keep Trey busy at the wineries.  This play foam was a big hit and kept him occupied almost everywhere we went.

Wine tasting at Cougar Crest, probably our least favorite stop, but we felt obligated to go there since they had let Trey use their restroom on the way into town the day before for a bathroom emergency.

This may not look like a stage to you, but it did to Trey, and he put on quite a show. 

Magnetic faces! 

Basel Cellars

Pretty much anything you drink here will be good.

The view from Basel Cellars

We stopped at Gifford Hirlinger, one of our favorite wineries,
on the way back to the house.  

Trey was pretty pooped by this point,
but he enjoyed the shade and the swing for a short time. 

Dinner at home 

Everyone, well, almost everyone, resting up before fireworks 

I promised Trey he would see fireworks this year, and he did not let me forget my promise all day long.  We went out by the Walla Walla airport to see them shot off from the community college.  It was beautiful out here and the perfect place to get away from the crowds.  The only unfortunate part was that by 9:45pm the show still had not started and Trey was ready to go home.  Luckily, Randy's friend Jon and his wife had joined us, and they gave the grown ups a ride back to the house after the fireworks so I could take Trey home to bed.  Also, luckily, fireworks in Washington aren't illegal, so Trey saw plenty of "real" fireworks being shot off and doesn't realize he missed the big show.

Everyone staying occupied on their phones 

What do you do while waiting for fireworks?  

Have standing-on-one-foot contests, of course! 

After breakfast the next day, I took Trey to the park to burn off some energy before we started wine tasting again.  These pictures are cool to me because Trey has always been hesitant to climb on his own and go down slides, but he has turned a corner this summer and is being much more independent and "adventurous" on the playground, and I think it's awesome!

He went down this slide multiple times on his own! So proud! 

And when a boy has to pee, a boy has to pee. 

There are several tasting rooms clustered together downtown Walla Walla, so on Saturday afternoon we hit that area of town.  The plan was to go to a few tasting rooms, and then Randy would drive Trey home to nap.  It worked out perfectly...well, for all of us except Randy.  

 I'm telling you, this play foam stuff is genius.

 Spring Valley Vineyard

Saturday night John and Randy went on a little drive and came home with some great pictures.  The landscape in this part of the state is just stunning.

On Sunday it was too hot to keep the dogs in the cars while wine tasting and we had to check out of the house.  We decided to go to Woodward Canyon on the way out of town because John wanted to try their wine and we thought the dogs could handle one stop.  Luckily, there was a nice shaded area to hang out in, and we all agreed one winery was plenty on our way out of town.

Kris, John, and Porter 

Sadly, Porter is aging quickly and seems to be nearing the end of his life.

We were glad to have him join us on this trip and things went better than we thought, but it was hard on the ol' guy and I'm sure he was happy to get home.  

This is how Trey fell asleep on the way home. 

We came home with quite a loot of wine.

A few of our favorite new wines were Kerloo Cellars and Sweet Valley Wines.

It was a great wine tasting weekend and a really fun way to spend the Fourth of July!