Stephanie Kennedy Photography Blog

My mom turned 50 this year!! I decided to surprise her and take her on a trip, just the two of us. We have never done that before. We had a super fabulous time in Napa.

We stayed at Maison Fleurie in Yountville. It was such a great bed and breakfast in the cutest town.

This was a winery somewhere up on the hills. Our goal was to hit a few more obscure wineries, rather than all the big, touristy ones. I forget what this was, but we got some super good wine there!!

This was the view from another winery that was so beautiful..

They had some huge horses too!!

The horse and I shared a very serious moment….

I loved the moss covered trees along our drive….

We had to go to Merryvale to see the beautiful barrel room….and they have super good wine too!!

Mom’s cracking up…..must have had some gooooood wine!!

Then I just had to take her to Via Sattui…it’s one of the prettiest places!! Jim has shot weddings there.

This was a great pastry shop in Yountville….we got coffee and hot chocolate!! Mmmmmm….

We thought we’d better work off some of that wine and cheese…so we went for a power walk in the beautiful town!!

Along the way we saw beautiful sights….

Beautiful homes….

The last day, we had my mom’s sister, Sue, meet us at a winery….she lives just over the hill in Santa Rosa. Hi Sue!!

What a great girls’ trip!! Can’t wait to do more!! Happy birthday, Mom!! I love you!!

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Once again, a wedding takes us to a great place!! This time, we brought the whole family. We rented a house right on the beach on the North Shore of Oahu.

On the way to the house from the airport, we were greeted with a beautiful rainbow!!

We went for a walk and found some pretty cool trees!!

Are these the cutest kids ever, or what!?

Beach day!! Jim does some tricks….nice, dear….

We read in a bok that this truck has the best shrimp…so we thought we’d give it a try…even though it didn’t look very nice….it was fabulous!! Lots of garlic!!

You can’t come to the North Shore without getting shave ice!

Apparently, this is the market to get it…best on the island!!

This old car was nearby…thought it was cool…

The garage in our house was full of beach toys, so the girls took the kayak out….they didn’t last long!

Matt’s having a good time….I love the joy on his face here…

One day, Jim and Travis decided to rent mopeds….they were hot!! About 3 miles later, they ran into rain….a lot of rain!! I was laughing so hard in our cozy minivan!!

This was the best Mexican food on the island…it was super!!

Korynn and Matt wish they could take them for a spin…

We had to take Travis back to the airport a few days early, so we went to Pearl Harbor while we were on that side of the island.

On our way back to our house, we just had to check out the Dole Plantation!!

This is the back of a Gum Tree…

Matt figured it was ready for chewing…

Another day, we found sea turtles taking a nap on the beach…There were about 5 of them….just chillin’….

In our book, I found a cool 1 mile hike to a private beach….so off we went…

Things got a little messy….

But it was worth it…

But then the sea started to get angry…

….and we had to walk back in the rain…nobody was happy about it!!

Another day, we went for a mountain bike ride on a ranch…they had some wildlife running around…

Nadine made a friend…

The kids are standing in a giant dinosaur footprint. It was for the movie Jurasik Park, which was filmed on this ranch.

We got pretty dirty…

The girls got to swim with the dolphins….you had to be 12, so Matt couldn’t do it.

Our book told us about another hot spot where the cliffs were smooth and beautiful…

Then we went snorkeling nearby, and it was amazing….even though it was raining!!

This is the cove we snorkeled in…

Our book also told us where the “From Here to Eternity” beach was, where the movie was filmed….and we just had to make out right where they were rolling around in the waves…

Yaa!! Another great family trip!! Happy New Year!!

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