Getting My Worst Time Was One of the Best Times

This weekend, I ran the Santa Barbara Wine Country half marathon with my cousins K and L. Although our finishing time was the slowest I've done so far, we had such a great time out on the course! We decided when we signed up that we would take the Mother's Day weekend race date as an opportunity to celebrate our collective grandmas who have passed away. Grandma P and Grandma Doris shared genes, laughs, wisdom and many hours with all 3 of us girls, so they were at the top of our lists.


We weren't even 2 miles into the course (which was gorgeous—I loved it just as much as when I did the race last year) when we came upon an intersection with a cheering turkey. Yup, one of the local folks brought out her pet bird to rally the runners. Rather than causing us to charge forth with enthusiastic energy bursts, however, the turkey made a lot of people (myself included) stop for a photo op.


I also couldn't help but stop to capture this precious baby horse running in tandem with her mom. There were all sorts of sweet baby animals around town...



Including these adorable baby miniature donkeys. After a couple stops for wine tasting, my family (I forgot to mention that significant portion of them came up to Solvang to cheer us on during the race) decided that we just had to see the miniature donkey farm. Between oohs and ahhs, we all laughed as we watched one of the mommy donkeys nudge her baby so far, she lifted him off the ground. As payback, he pushed that gate below closed on her head. I guess children of all species are naughty now and then...


We lucked out with gorgeous weather, delicious food, and plenty of family entertainment. My sister and I were particularly delighted when my dad said, "You know what I've always wanted? A six foot tall glass chicken." We're still not sure where he came up with this or why he always wanted one. But we decided this particular item was going to be too expensive to purchase for him for Father's Day. Sorry dad, maybe we'll get you a ceramic duck instead.


On our way out of town, Mr. Wonderful and I stopped for a taste at the Melville winery and ooohh how pleased we were that we did. The wine was delicious (we bought 4 bottles) and we fell in love with the house. Mr. W said we need to file away a picture of it so we can refer back to it when we're building our own winery estate. Someday... We counted up our purchases when we got home. Eight bottles this weekend. That makes 26 in the last two months. Are we officially wine hoarders?