In a house with kids, it’s easy to lose a weekend. I’m sure you know what I mean. With homework, swim meets, birthday parties, you can forget to take some time to just relax. I can’t do it sitting at home. The list of things to do is too long, so I try to plan fun family adventures right in my Northern California Wine Country backyard.

This was one of our best summer’s yet. Splashing on a hot day at the Francis Ford Coppola Winery, riding through Chalk Hill’s Vineyards with Wine Country Trail Rides and ziplining through the redwoods. Now I can add a California Castle to the growing list.

It’s been a quiet summer for my family when it comes to travel. My girls’ schedules have dictated more stay-cation type summer adventures, but I live in the Northern California Wine Country, so I have no reason to complain.

The Napa and Sonoma Valleys has a reputation for being adult-only destinations. ‘Leave the kids with the grandparents and go’ type places. Once upon a time that may have been true.

The Northern California Wine Country is one of the world’s top destinations to visit — without your kids. It’s got a bad reputation when it comes to being family-friendly. I understand how the rumor probably got started. Kids drink milk not wine. The Wine Country has been fighting the bad rap for years, and this summer they landed a knockout punch thanks to Francis Ford Coppola.

The man who gave us Apocalypse Now and The Godfather had a vision of a winery …

The Northern California Wine Country has a reputation for many fabulous things, but being family-friendly isn’t one of them. Wine tasting with kids is do-able, but different. And though wine is obviously the toast of the town, kids have a new, fast-flying reason to celebrate when they visit.

Move over grapevines, some towering Redwoods have a new view of wine country to share. Ziplining is a favorite activity in family vacation spots like Cabo San Lucas and Costa Rica. Now, the California wine country …

Some news! We just launched a new partnership with LocalGetaways.com. We’re writing tips and advice for their Kid-Friendly Great Getaways section. The first edition covers the California wine country vacations with kids. Napa and Sonoma are right outside of Dana’s front door and she’s provided an array of fantastic suggestions of things to do with kids other than dragging them to wineries.

Local Getaways is a great resource to bookmark for boutique hotel stays in California.

I know many people think Napa with kids is an oxymoron, but we love to escape to the wine country at least a few times a year as a family. The colors in the spring and fall are gorgeous, and over summer months it’s an easy way to escape foggy San Francisco (save winter visits for romance) for perfect swimming weather.

Singles, couples, kids, dogs … they’re all welcome at Solage Calistoga. This fantastic getaway in Napa Valley is the subject of this week’s Photo Friday post and the venue for our latest giveaway.

Given that the focus in Napa Valley is wine, it’s easy to conclude that it is not a kid-friendly place. Au contraire! Napa is a wonderful getaway …