It's Earth Month and we are toasting to 3 eco friendly alcohol brands that not only provide amazing drinks, but are caring for our planet! The Messy Mommies love to highlight people and businesses that are innovative, positive, and are making a difference in creative ways. We are sharing 3 of our favorite planet loving, eco friendly alcohol brands!

Our latest Girls Night In was on Thursday, April 22, Earth Day and we were inspired by how Noble Oaks plants a tree for every bottle purchased. So, the Messy Mommies are planting a tree in honor of each person that joined our virtual Girls Night In and for those that joined our April live streams! ​

1. Noble Oak and Noble Hearts
If a bottle of Noble Oak Whiskey falls in a forest and no one is around, does it make a sound? We don't know the answer but you just might find a bottle of Noble Oak Whiskey in a forest since Noble Oak is planting an enormous amount of trees! For every Noble Oak bottle purchased, Noble Oak is planting a tree with the One Tree Planted organization! Noble Oak has already planted more than 203,496 trees! That is an amazing amount of trees and an amazing impact! We love Noble Oak's noble heart. Noble Oak is "on a mission to revitalize the earth by planting trees, building communities, and of course, enjoying great whiskey." We love this mission and the Noble Oak Double Oak Bourbon! You can also enjoy Noble Oak Double Oak Rye. 

Huge thanks to Tom from Noble Oak for sending us the great video message and toast from Noble Oak for our April Girls Night In! We talked about the impressive work of Noble Oak with planting so many trees and our Messy Girlfriends shared how they make great bourbon cocktails, put bourbon in hot tea, on a baby's gums when we were little, and even in sugar cookies! The Messy Mommies also love how Noble Oak is part of the Edrington brands. Edrington's sustainability strategy includes great people, giving more, cutting their carbon footprint, protecting water resources and more. Pick up a bottle of Noble Oak Whiskey today and they will plant a tree for you! What a fun way to celebrate Earth Month! Outstanding work Noble Oak and Edrington! 

2. Sunny with a Chance of Flowers and Positivity
We love the mindfully made, zero sugar, 85 calories, 9% alcohol Sunny with a Chance of Flowers wines! We love how Sunny is spreading positivity, has created cheery, delicious wines with moderation in mind, and is focu​sing on the planet! Sunny wines are sustainably grown and we think the huge wind turbine that powers the vineyards is so cool! When we talked with Heidi Scheid, Chief Sunny Officer, a few months ago about our Girls Night In, we loved hearing her passion for Sunny with a Chance of Flowers. We also loved hearing her passion and her family’s passion for taking care of our planet.

Check this out - Sunny wines, which are made at the Scheid Vineyards, are 100% powered by renewable energy from their awesome wind turbine! And, they have enough clean energy to share with 125 local homes in the community. Sunny wines love wind and water! They use drip irrigation to reduce water consumption, recycle water to ponds and use in the vineyard, and use about 50% less water than the average winery of their size! Sunny nourishes the soil and has so many certificates! We love how they are caring for the planet while growing a beautiful vineyard and are making wonderful wines! 

Sunny with a Chance of Flowers kicked off Sunny Fest during Earth Month to help us live our best life! Check out the fun Sunny Fest events! We are excited to join Heidi and Shanda with Flor de Casa Designs on Wednesday, April 28 on Instagram live to learn how to create a beautiful floral designs! On Sunday, May 2nd we are joining Sunny with a Chance of Flowers for Sunny Salutation Yoga with Yvonne Kingsley. Sunny will be donating $5.00 for every person that joins yoga to @WholesomeWave! We love how Wholesome Wave is helping provide fresh fruits and veggies to be people in need. Join in the positivity and try Sunny with a Chance of Flowers! Cheers to Sunny people that care about our planet!​

3. Ketel One 
Drawing on 300 years of distilling expertise, we love how the Nolet family and Ketel One are a driving force in promoting sustainability in cocktails and in inspiring bartenders to be innovative while thinking about their communities and the planet. Ketel One is helping the cocktail industry think differently about sustainability, is highlighting the positive impact of working with local growers, and is sharing how to create delicious zero-waste cocktails. Think about the lemon peel garnish in your favorite Ketel One Vodka Martini. What happens to the rest of the lemon? What happens to so many garnishes and other elements of cocktails? Instead of tossing so much waste into the trash, Ketel One is helping bartenders and bars around the world re-imagine cocktails and how to provide an even better drinking experience that will also care for our planet! Ketel One created the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Awards to highlight innovations such as climate-positive cocktails, sourcing raw materials with local farmers, and thinking about the use of straws and coasters. Even during the pandemic Ketel One Sustainable Award winners are adapting and innovating!  Cheers to your innovative work Nolet family and Ketel One!

We are also big fans of the garden inspired Ketel One Botanicals and love of the refreshing drinks are infused with natural essence of fresh, crisp and fragrant botanicals! The Messy Mommies are toasting the Nolet family and Ketel One with the Peach and Orange Blossom Ketel One Botanicals! Cheers! 

Huge thanks to Noble Oak, Sunny with a Chance of Flowers, and Ketel One for caring about our planet, for driving innovation, and inspiring people make positive changes that will help the Earth for decades to come. Cheers to all of you from the Messy Mommies! 

For spring break we wanted to get away for a few days with our 9-year-old daughters, Stella and Sophia. We had been home for over a year with the pandemic and were more than ready for a change of scenery. We decided Galena would be a great place to visit over Easter weekend because we could drive over in a couple of hours and could rent a house through Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa. We love the beautiful countryside and historic town of Galena. The girls and I Googled fun things to do in Galena and up popped Galena Goat Yoga! Goat yoga sure caught our attention! The goats were so cute!

I made a reservation for Stella, Sophia, and I on Saturday morning. I was so excited for this fun, unique adventure with the girls. With Sophia's selective mutism, I'm constantly searching for activities where we can practice our brave. Horse back riding lessons have been great for the twins and they love our golden retriever, Rocky. I thought the girls could continue their love of animals with some very cute goats during yoga! 

Before we even arrived at goat yoga, Jenn, the owner was so thoughtful and kind. I had emailed and explained that we were excited about goat yoga but that I was not sure the girls would be able to do the whole class. She was so kind and shared that we could rest on our mats, leave early, sit by the doors, etc. The morning of goat yoga Stella decided she wanted to go explore Galena with her dad. I was so proud of Sophia that she used her brave and still came with me.

As you think about COVID, travel, and activities, I have to give props to Jenn! We were all socially distanced and each group was in our own space. She did a great job with safety protocols.

​It was really sweet how at the start of class Jenn asked if there were any special celebrations or reasons for joining goat yoga that day. Erin, a bride-to-be was celebrating with her girlfriends and Jodi was celebrating her birthday and remission. Jenn had cute signs for them to hold when they took pictures with the goats at the end of class. 

Jenn shared history on the beautiful barn, a stage coach stop during the mid-1800's and described how she and her husband and transformed the barn into the lovely goat yoga space. It was so neat to see how they used original wood from the barn stalls around the walls. Did you know goats like to eat drywall?! There were several other features from the original barn, it was so cool! Jenn then shared her journey in corporate America, her family experiences that caused her to reflect on her purpose and passion, and how a trip to Denver inspired her to open Galena Goat Yoga. Jenn's story was so inspiring and her passion filled the room with warmth and happy goats and yogis. 

One of the things I loved about Jenn and goat yoga is that at the very beginning Jenn shared that you could do as much yoga as you like, you could sit on the mat and pet goats the whole time, or any combination in between. She talked about the nurturing hearts of her sweet goats and that some people just wanted to pet the goats. I loved that she was so encouraging and wanted people to have a special experience at Galena Goat Yoga. Several of the kids, including Sophia, petted goats the whole yoga class. And, that was really amazing. Sophia loved it! It was so fun every time a goat walked over and Vinny really loved coming over by Sophia for some pets. 

Sophia and I loved goat yoga and Jenn did a fantastic job leading the class. I was cracking up during one of the stretches where my foot was out front and a goat was walking around me and Sophia was so happy petting the goat. She was so brave! It was one of those special moments that I knew I would remember for years to come. 

Jenn's daughter and her friend also did a fantastic job helping check us all in and with the goats during class. I loved how Jenn wrapped up our yoga session with positive intentions for Erin, the bride-to-be and Jodi, the birthday gal, it was so sweet and purpose driven. Sophia and I also loved how we got to feed the goats at the end of class! So much fun! After class the older goats went outside to play and the baby goats came out for some play time and pictures. It was amazing! We had such a special time with Sophia, Jenn, and all the so cute goats! When you are planning your visit to Galena be sure to sign-up for Galena Goat Yoga! You will have an amazing time and will reflect on your purpose! Tell Jenn and Vinny that we said hi! We'll be back again! 

Follow Galena Goat Yoga on Instagram! You will love seeing all the cute goats!