Dinner and Karaoke

Last weekend Kevin and I went to dinner with some friends from my CLS program. Since graduating we've only gotten together once for Irene's birthday and that was in October. With all of our different schedules and various weekend shifts we've found that we have to plan fairly far in advance to get everyone there. There were 4 of us from my class, 2 from the next, and 1 from the class before and the most recent class.

Here is Irene and Anne at the Latin restaurant we went to in downtown Palo Alto. It was a tapas-style dinner and I got to try a lot of interesting things. A little pricey, but really fun.

After dinner a few of us went to Nola's for a drink. It isn't the best picture, but it is the best group shot I managed.
Afterward we were headed to a birthday celebration for a friend at a Mexican Restaurant that was hosting karaoke night. Josh, Harsha, and Daryl rocked it out to a backstreet boys song....pretty entertaining.
Kevin decided to go for a classic...."Born to Be Wild". I was looking at a previous post and noticed Kevin has performed this song at Karaoke before. I guess he really loves singing it.
I signed up to sing "Total Eclipse of the Heart", but then two guys had also signed up. Luckily for me it was people in our group so I just joined them. I think they appreciated it. While I'm not fabulous at singing or anything close to that...they were really really bad.

4th of July

This is my first blog with pictures. I went home on July 4th for my parents sweet party. My parents, Scott, and Thomas didn't know I was coming home, but James and Joseph were in on the secret.

The first night James arranged a pub crawl for me to surprise Thomas and Scott while Joseph picked me up at the airport. Thomas and Scott showed up to see me and Thomas said 'What the hell are you doin' here?' and Scott said 'Hey Kevin.' The pub crawl that James 'arranged' ended up being the Third Annual Dinkel Family Pub Crawl that we invited ourselves too...and it was a little awkward at first, but everyone eventually warms up to having us five come along.

The next morning I watched Die Hard with Joseph and James at James' pad, and then we went over to surprise Mom and Dad. James and Joseph went in first and shuttled Dad inside, then I came around front. They told Dad something like they brought a church full of people along with them, and when I rang the doorbell they told Momma it was Santi. When I opened the outside door Dad was inside the glass door and he said 'Oh hey Kevin', and upon hearing Dad say that Momma said in one of the highest pitches I've ever heard 'Is that Kevin!?!?!?'. Then there a few blurry seconds when Dad tried to get the door open why Momma let off a shrill giggle and ran full speed at the glass door. At the last second Dad got the door open and Momma flung her arms around me and hugged me for a few minutes. It was pretty fun surprising everyone. Scott and Dad's identical reactions were pretty hilarious. Joseph and James did a pretty awesome job at covertly sneaking me in and setting up the meeting with Scott, Thomas, Mom, and Dad.

The rest of the trip is pretty well covered by some key pictures my Momma supplied so here goes:

This is me setting up the volleyball court. Thomas, Dad, and I set it up, and I guess a few people stopped by and asked what professional we hired to set up our volleyball court.

This is my Dad showing off his sexy grillin' skills.
So Momma got done with these fruit bowls and was so impressed with them that she wanted us to take a picture of them, so James held them like a precious baby for the picture. About 1 second later Joseph swallowed the entire bowl of fruit out of James' arms.

Here's Terry and Theresa. Terry and my Mom stole Theresa's car and went on a joyride later that night.
Here's Thomas with his fiancee and Patrick. Aren't they cute?

So I hired a few guys to shoot off fireworks across the lake as a surprise and they ended up doing a really nice job.
The next day there was an epic water fight: Scott and me vs. James, Joseph and Thomas. James, Joseph, and Thomas had a huge advantage of having all of the hoses, and they had me cornered while Scott got away. Just as I was about to be soaked, Scott ran around the corner with two pitchers of water (and I swear I heard 'Chariots of Fire' playing) then he dumped them on James and Thomas, and I made my escape. This picture is one of the many examples of Scott and I kicking the crap out of those jokers. The only reason I'm all wet is because Scott thought it was hilarious to keep spraying me when we were filling up our pitchers.
Here's another clear example where I'm showing James who's boss.
This is Bella looking beautiful in the sun.
Bella and I have come such a long way. We're best friends now.
These are kind of out of order, this is Joseph and Scott before the epic water fight.

I missed my first flight back to California. This is the five of us right before I left for the airport (for the flight I ended up missing).
This is me and my Momma right before the flight I caught.

Weekend with Amy

This last weekend was wonderful since Amy was able to visit from Phoenix. We've been planning this trip for such a long time and finally it was here! Amy flew in early Thursday morning. We went to breakfast and I then gave her a tour of Stanford campus. Here we are by the fountain outside the bookstore.
Once I'd shown Amy around town we grabbed lunch and went shopping for stuff for dinner. We had Brian, Moria, and Sarah over for kebabs. I loved introducing Amy to some of my friends here.

That night it was finally time for Harry Potter 6! We sort of planned this trip around the premiere of HP, but unfortunately after Amy had bought her tickets they changed the release date to two nights earlier. We were so mad when we first found out, but since there was nothing we could do we made the best of it and pretended that this was the midnight showing.
On Friday we headed up to San Francisco. Amy hadn't been there since she was 10 so I was excited to show her around. Naturally we did the Golden Gate Bridge photo op. It was really pretty with the fog starting to roll in. Luckily we were still able to see it though.
After a seafood lunch, fisherman's wharf, and some shopping at Union Square we headed back for a nap before going out dancing. We are getting to the age where we need a recharge before heading out on the town! :)

Amy, me , and Moria ready to head to Molly MaGee's!

Kevin and I had been out to this Irish Pub once before and had a blast and we were anxious to check it out again. I think many were skeptical thinking that an Irish Pub couldn't possibly be any good for dancing. They were wrong!!! We had a blast and I love that it is in Downtown Mountain View! She got to meet more of my friends and we had an awesome time.Saturday we slept in a bit and then headed out to Santa Cruz for a beach day! We needed a relaxing girls day.
Unfortunately the water here is ridiculously cold so we didn't really do much swimming. I did manage to get a bit of a sunburn on my stomach though. I put on sunscreen and reapplied and everything. I guess my tummy doesn't see that much of the sun and it didn't like it :(

On Sunday we went for a day trip to Napa Valley for some wine tasting. There are so many wineries to choose from, but through recommendations from friends and online searches I managed to narrow it down to 3 to try.

First we headed to Mumm winery to check out some of their sparkling wine. My friends Jonathan and Conrad really like this place and I wanted to see it for myself. We did our tasting outside and the view was spectacular! I love Napa Valley!
I liked the winery a lot and wouldn't mind heading back. Kevin was great and agreed to be our driver for the day. He even dressed in dark pants and a white shirt. He wanted to buy a hat to fit the part but didn't get around to it.
He did get to taste some wines though so he didn't feel completely left out.
The second winery we went to was Rutherford Hill Winery. I really really liked this place. We ended up buying a bottle of port which I don't normally even like and became a member of their wine club. They are going to send us 2 bottles 4 times a year from their red wine collections and we get a great discount. Also, we get complimentary tastings and tours so if you ever come out and want to check out some caves let us know!!

Finally we headed to V. sattui. This place was really neat and had a deli. You can only get the wine there so it was fun to try something you can't get at the stores. The coolest part of this place was the person we saw there. If you look behind us in the picture you an see Jared from the Subway commercials! We went for the sly picture approach rather than bugging him. He looks thin in real life too!


Overall it was a wonderful and beautiful day in Napa. While warm, it was still much cooler for Amy than the Phoenix heat and I think she appreciated the cooldown! It was a great weekend and it went by so fast. The only thing that I missed this weekend was my cousin Steven's wedding! Amy and I had already made plans... but I heard the wedding was beautiful and the reception was fun. Congrats to Steven and Melissa!
We are already talking about when Kevin and I can both head down to Phoenix for a visit. Definitely not during the summer though. I don't want to leave perfect weather here for a 110 degrees even if there is no humidity!

Lake Chabot

This last weekend we head to Lake Chabot for a camping trip. This State park was fairly close to Oakland and wasn't too far of a drive for us. We got there mid afternoon and set up our tents. Then we started to walk around the lake to try and make it to the Marina. We were hoping to possibly rent a boat and check out the lake for a little bit.

Here is our group on the trail. Most of us gave up and headed back to camp. We thought the Marina closed at 5pm and didn't think we'd be able to get a boat. The three that kept going were able to get a boat because it didn't close until 6:30pm. Oh well...maybe next time!

The lake was so pretty!
We came across a rattlesnake on our walk. A bay area local told us it was a pretty big one for this area. Needless to say I kept my distance.
Me and Sarah! Jonathan missing a catch in the background.
Another great view of the lake. It is hard to believe we are so close to a big city. At night we could actually hear the trains and even some of the airplanes heading to Oakland.

Chillin' by the campsite.Wild Turkeys! Scott was able to get them to "gobble". It was hilarious!
Morning coffee.
Enjoying the air mattress! We acquired this air mattress for free from someone at work. We let Brian and Moria use it since the one they were borrowing didn't fit in their tent and we used that one. Some laughed at us for camping with a mattress...but we're pretty sure they were just jealous:) I slept fantastic and wouldn't do it any other way unless I was backpacking!!
This camping trip was a blast. The last time we all went camping together was almost two years ago at Big Basin. It was fun just to get away for a night with smores' and hot dogs and of course the campfire! Hopefully we won't wait so long before we do another group camping trip.

Jonathan, Sarah, Moria, Brian, Scott, Kevin, Cara, Jason.

This week I'm looking forward to Amy coming into town! She's never been out here and we've been planning this trip for so long...I can't believe she'll finally be here!

Happy 4th!!!

Happy 4th of July!!! Hope everyone had a great day and saw some fireworks!! I had to work today and missed the fireworks :( I did get in on part of a 24 in almost 24 hour marathon before having to head into the lab and that was pretty fun!!

Kevin is in Kansas for a quick surprise visit to the family! I made him take the camera with him and he said he would take pictures....but we'll have to see!!

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Weekend

My work was hosting a company wide picnic day last Saturday at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Tickets were only $15 a person and included an all you can eat rib lunch, private volleyball courts, and unlimited rides at the boardwalk. Since I didn't have to work we decided to make a weekend out of it and stay the night in Santa Cruz. Our plan was to leave early Saturday and make it in time for the free arcade games.

Unfortunately for us, we had noticed a flat tire the night before and tried filling it up. By morning it was pretty flat so we knew it was going to need replaced. We headed to Costco to get a new tire and decided to just replace all of them. Here is Kevin being "bummed" that our weekend was being delayed and that we were missing arcade games.

Luckily Santa Cruz isn't that far away (except there was a ton of traffic). It was nice to be at the beach since it was much cooler than the weather was at home. We finally made it and took advantage of lunch before going for a few rides.

Here we are in line for the bumper cars.
Kevin LOVES bumper cars!!!

We found some people in for a pick up game for volleyball. I really enjoy sand volleyball and we had a blast even though nobody we were playing with knew how to call out the score. Later on we went and played a game of laser tag. Kevin and I kicked some major butt and tied for 1st place!!! Take that kids!! I probably would have beat Kevin if he hadn't shot me once. We were supposed to be working together to take on the kids and teenagers. He says it was an accident....do you believe him?? :)

This is us on the first climb of the Hurricane. It was a pretty awesome rollercoaster....especiallly since from looking at it it looked like it could be pretty lame.
Kevin's Grrrr pirate pose.
We checked in at our hotel in the afternoon and then walked back to the boardwalk for a nice dinner with a beach view and grabbed as many more rides as we possibly could before closing. In the past we thought the boardwalk was kind dinky, especially since tickets are usually so expensive. With my work sponsoring it and unlimited rides, it was so fun!!!

On Sunday we headed back to the beach and enjoyed watching the waves. We've been so busy since May that this was a great opportunity for us to hang out just the two of us. We couldn't get on anymore free rides so instead we just enjoyed some of the food. The corn on the cob was excellent!!

It was a wonderful getaway and we truly had a fantastic time. Hopefully we'll be able to come back next year!

Tiffany's Wedding Weekend

Last weekend I was back in Kansas for a wedding for Tiffany, a neighbor of mine growing up. I took a red eye and left at midnight on Thursday. Even with the extra leg room that the exit row offers, I still didn't sleep much that night. Mom picked me up Friday morning and we had a nice morning and then lunch in Lawrence. We were hoping to grab a nap, but Rudy (the Copp cat) had to be taken to the vet with a leg injury.

Then it was time to pick the kid's up from Aunt Laura's. Check out these scooter moves.

One leg!!!!
Seth had a ball game that night. Here he is all decked out.
The wedding was in Kansas City, so we headed there in the afternoon and got checked into our hotel. Aren't the kids just adorable!

I love his smile.
Hailie is too cute with the curls!
Aren't the guys handsome with their ties?!!!
Group shot outside the church.
I was determined to get a picture with Tiffany...isn't she beautiful? We have a picture of us as kids with us dressed up. Tiff was in a wedding dress and I was in another dress that Grandma Koch made and we were putting on make up. We had such wonderful times together!! It was also great to see some of the other old neighborhood gang. That is one of the best parts of weddings!!
After the reception we had to go for a swim.
We swam more on Sunday and then headed to Legends so we'd be close to the airport. This water fountain outside the movie theatre could entertain for hours.
Just me with my Mom and Dad!

It was a whirlwind trip, but it was great. Hailie was so upset about me leaving and that really got to me. She said to me in the car..."Cara, it just won't be the same without you" Things like that break my heart every time. I'm not sure when our next visit will be, but I'm already looking forward to it.