Long weekend...

Our weekend started with a wonderful Valentines surprise for me. Mark took Friday off and took me to Napa for wine tasting and then dinner at Greystone. It was rainy but we still had a wonderful time. The day started off with a trip to Dean and Deluca to pick up some picnic food. It was too wet to have a picnic so we had one in the car.




Then we went to Silver Oak Winery... Marks favorite wine 1998 Alexader Valley Cabernet. I love the winery and the glasses that you get to take home after tasting.



Then we went to the Sterling winery. I was surprised they were still open in the rain. I'm not crazy about their wine but the winery is always fun to vistit. You take a tram up to the winery and take a tour of the place. It's huge. At the end of the tour you sit down in a room and taste. It's a nice way to taste.




Final stop was Greystone... The culinary academy. We had a great dinner. They even had a special drink just for me..."Laura's house made hot buttered rum" I had to have one of course.




I tried to capture the kiss but you know Mark always has his head in the gutter and started to laugh. Love him!

On Valentines Day I had a day of relaxation and fun planned for Mark and I but it all went down hill. We woke up to Sparky crying and we thought he was pushing around his food bowl but he wasn't. When we went to check on him he was in his dog house and wouldn't come out. Mark pulled him out and tried to get him to stand but his back legs were paralyzed. We took him into the Emergency Vet at around 10:30 am. While there his condition seemed to get worse. He lost use of all four legs and was drooling. He never drooled. Needless to say... the vet came to the conclusion he had a lesion on either his spinal cord or in his brain and his condition wouldn't get better. We had no choice than to put him to sleep. At 11:30 am Sparky was relieved of all his pain. Mark and Cameron chose to stay in the room with him. I couldn't bring myself to watch that. It was hard enough making the decision and watching my children’s pain. Emily was at a friends and chose not to come. I knew it would be hard but never imagined being so upset. The kids are having a tough time with it...Completely understandable Sparky was their first pet and first loss. Cameron chooses not to talk about it but Emily is vocal and emotional right now. I know they will be ok it's just makes me sad to see my children hurt like this. Sparky was 13 years old a still thought he was a puppy! He had a good life and will be greatly missed. We went in the hot tub last night and it was weird not having him there. He use to come over to the hot tub and stand on the step and would want us to pet him.