Getting To Be 13 Again

Just a week ago our cousins from Florida came to visit for a few days. We had never met until a year ago at Tom and Nora's 50th anniversary, but I had enjoyed their company a lot, so was excited that they could come across the country this summer.
Chuck is a true wine connoisseur, so being very close to hundreds of wineries let him pick and choose which ones he and Sharl would visit. We also took a visit to the county fair, to the old growth redwood grove near the Russian River,

the Bodega Bay where they took a dip into the Pacific ocean.

I even took the teenagers shopping and to see the new Simpsons movie. The best part was just being together, talking, laughing, and even playing board games. I got to be about 13 again and insisted that we play Scattergories by my house rules, which included letting Sean have 'lemon pepper chicken sandwich" for an 'L' menu item. I thought that was pretty good thinking. My 'L' item was lemonade...not very creative, now is it? Below is Sean and Xam.

We also had some great meals together. The first evening we grilled some zucchini from the garden and had grilled local Willie Bird Italian turkey sausages on rolls. Some red wines from our 'collection' were a good accompaniment.

The next night we were joined by Grandma L and enjoyed grilled leg of lamb. Sweetie boned it and I marinated it for a few hours in garlic, fresh rosemary, red wine and a little Dijon mustard before grilling. To go with we had mashed potatoes and a big salad with field greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and feta with a red wine dressing. Poizin zinfandel wine from Armida winery in Dry Creek valley complemented the lamb.

The next night we took it easy and had Round Table pizza. That was the day I'd gone shopping with Ashley and Sean, plus to the movies, so I was more than a little tired. Guess I'm not 13 after all :)