Pumpkin Farm!

We spent Saturday at the Bishop Pumpkin Farm. Fortunatly for us, Grandma Hippo and Grandpa Penguin were in town to help us corral the kids, and get us professional pictures! These are all Grandpa's pictures, Mommy and Daddy took some too, but those will be in the monthly shutterfly. This was a deluxe pumpkin farm. There was a giant animal viewing and petting area with goats, geese, pigs, donkeys, lambs, cows etc. There was a hay "bounce" area, a train ride, a hay ride, a pig race, and of course pumpkins. They had the biggest pumpkins I've seen at a farm... it was a challenge for us to find any small ones for the kids to carry. 4 hours at the farm, 4 pumpkins and 3 very tired kids made for one excellent Saturday adventure with our grandparents!

Yosemite!

We went to bed last night thinking we'd go look at some properties in the bay area, woke up saying we'd go look at "big" trees, and finished breakfast agreeing we'd go where we've been saying we wanted to go... Yosemite! Amazing what a day trip in CA can be. 45 minutes later, after Mommy went crazy grabbing everything we might need, we were ready. A couple Max and Ruby episodes later, Lauren succombed to the wiggly roads with a bad case of car sickness... but as we had an extra set of clothes all was quickly fixed. Shortly after, we were entering the park, and enjoying the natural formations and spectacular landscapes! We found a nice loop for the kids to "hike," and were fortunate that the meadow we hiked was a great Half Dome photo op for the kids! They had a great time on our "adventure," and though a long day (9 hours,) it's definitely on our list of possible Grandparent destinations! (So you all discuss and decide which of you might want to go back with us!) On the way home we detoured through some Amador County wineries, though they were closed... it's another to do destination for us. A great day, lots of wonderful memories and breath taking scenery... amazing what a couple hours in the car can get you!

Apple Hill

We realized last night we had a weekend with no plans, so we decided to try out Apple Hill, an area with LOTS of different farms to visit. We went with the intention of picking something... I saw online that there were a couple farms who still had U-Pick berries, and we were REALLY lucky that one of the farms was hosting a Teddy Bear Picnic for kids. So, we got on the road this morning with the intent of bringing home something, but mostly just having an adventure! Our first stop was Patricks Mountain Grown Berry Farm where we spent some time picking raspberries and blackberries. Dad found a new friend on one of the plants, a giant praying mantis... which entertained the big kids for a little while before heading back up the hill to wash our hands, pay and get back in the car for the next adventure. With no real destination in mind, we continued on around the path past a couple of wineries a brewery and LOTS of apple orchards before spotting another U-Pick, this time apples. We stopped at Hangtime Kid Apple Orchard picked up our buckets and headed up the hill, 6 pounds and $6 later we were back in the car each munching on our fresh apples! The helpful woman at the Orchard suggested several different farms further up the road with activites for kids; a hay maze, petting zoo, etc, and mentioned the Teddy Bear Picnic, that was on my list of to look out for. To our surprise the Teddy Bear Picnic was a HUGE event. The Rainbow Orchard hosted the event and for a $5 wristband per kid, they each got to adopt a teddy bear, and a new book (though they were down to only 4 books, and none appealed to our kids), get their faces painted, participate in any of the carnival games, and play in the bounce house, plus navigate an obstacle course and visit the petting zoo. The games were fun backyard carnival games we've all done: catching the rubber duckies, cake walk, bean bag toss etc, and the kids had a blast - the only unfortunate part for our toddlers was other than the cake walk, the only prizes were pencils... but they had a great time playing, and of course were already hugging their new teddy bear friends! A little hot, a little hungry, though we could have purchased a picnic lunch, we headed to the van and home! It was a great day, and we're sure to head back again!

California State Fair for the Rides!

So, we went back! We decided not only would it make the kids day, since they were so sad we left without any rides the first time... but Daddy REALLY wanted to see those chickens (his current obsessive fantasy that will never happen at our current home.) We arrived early on a beatiful Saturday that was only in the 80's very mild for us - so the Fair was busy! We headed for the rides first - we'd learned our lesson 2 weeks before, and the kids wanted the BIG ferris wheel. All was great until they got right up in line... then Lauren started talking with Daddy about whether she really wanted to go, but she went and they had a great time! Then began the debate for the next choice, carousel, spinning dinosaurs or caterpillar roller coaster. The coaster won out, as Ian could go to (with Daddy as a seat mate.) They were all excited until the first hill, then Lauren got a little spooked and wanted off, as she was sitting by herself she wasn't quite as confident, but she made it through the whole thing and says it was great now. Ian loved the whole thing - but he's a daredevil! After the rides we picked up lemonades for the kids and I and beer for Daddy and headed back to the animals. First to see the chickens and let Daddy dream about having them run around the house, (feel free to email him and remind him we do own a BIRD DOG,) then it was on to fair food - corn on the cob, brisket sandwhiches, hotdogs, dippin dots for the kids, and funnel cake for Mommy. All in all a fabulous day... made even better by the fact we got home and all 3 had some quiet time/naps!

Camping at Hope Valley Resort

Well, we did it... we only made it one night, but we actually camped! The site was close to two hours away and perfect as it was a small camp with only a few sites there was plenty of space so I wasn't worried about my kids keeping other campers awake at night. Unfortunatly, I wasn't quite as prepared for the extremes in temperatures! We arrived just as our friends the Jolly's were signing in, so followed them down to the sites. It was a beautiful site surrounded by aspen trees on one side and a huge granite wall on the other, with a "deer" path connecting our two camps for the little ones to jump back and forth between the sites. Upon arrival in no time flat the daddy's had the pop-up ready for our friends and both our tents up, then they grabbed a beer and all the kids and took them on an adventure while the mommy's stayed back to organize and get everything else ready. We had a great time playing once the kids got back and then got ready for a spagetti dinner followed by smores! Soon after it was time for bed, so we bundled Lauren into her sleeping bag in the small tent she would be sharing with Daddy and I grabbed the boys into our big tent. Armed with buddy's, flashlights and glowsticks we read our stories and wound down. All was going well as I heard Daddy zip his way out of his tent, I laid Gavin down in his pack n' play and exited mine. We made it next door for half a glass of wine when we heard a gaggle of teenage girls heading toward us on the way to the trash and restrooms. This was too much for Gavin who awoke, but I managed to keep Ian in the tent. Grabbing Gavin I once again went back to the other site. Once Gavin fell asleep in my arms it was back to the tent.... where Ian awoke during my putting down Gavin. Both boys slept for maybe an hour, before the temperature started to plummet. Then it was me sitting in the middle of the tent rocking both of them... all the while talking to Ian who was determined Daddy snoring in the next tent was the bear we had warned lived in the woods.... or the shadows on the tent walls were bad guy spiders... or the blankets being kicked by Gavin were bad men... Finally at 5:30 am both boys passed out, and slept until 8am. Needless to say it was a VERY LONG night of which I just kept praying for a fast forward button! The next day we had a good time exploring around us, burying everything we had in the dirt, finding pinecones, making mud pies, etc all the things that are great to do when outdoors in the woods! The only problem was by naptime the tent was unbearably hot, so the boys had no chance at a nap during the day either. So, Mommy packed up the camp knowing she had hit her limit and wouldn't survive another night like the last one! But, we stayed for another delicious dinner, this time kabobs and smores then packed into the van for the car ride home. We'd definitely like to give it another go - just not sure if we try this year while the kids still remember the good stuff, or wait until next year when they are all a little bigger and know we'll be going in cold turkey again!

California State Fair!

Let me start with apologizing... the husband dropped the backpack and broke the new camera... so no pictures from today's adventures.... and it was a doozy! Go figure, the one day we HAVE the camera, and it DOESN'T work! We headed to Sacramento for the State Fair, where we joined the Smith family for an afternoon of fun. We had a fun scavenger hunt in the garden area searching for the different color fruits and collecting stamps in our passports, after which we were rewarded with a piece of fruit and a juice box - a HUGE hit with the kids! Then we went to the "livestock nursery" area to see the new baby pigs etc. While looking at the baby pigs Daddy saw a worker run by talking in her walkie talkie saying one of the cows was giving birth. So we high tailed it over in time to see a hoof hanging... and 40 min or so later out was pulled a baby bull. The little boys had long since lost attention and so left with the daddy's to go collect corn dogs on the way to the beer garden, but us women stayed around to watch his birth! I am not sure if I was happy or not that at the last minute the mommy cow turned around so we couldn't see the actual birth of the baby, but we were there. Then we headed for a quick lunch and tour of the animal barns, followed by the petting zoo and then we headed to what the kids had asked for all day... the rides. On the way, Ian on daddy's shoulders fell asleep, and Lauren (riding backwards on our sit 'n stand stroller fell asleep with her head forward only caught by the shade.) We got quite a few "awwww" smiles as we headed back up the midway. All I could think was don't let Lauren slump enough to fall straight through and onto the ground, or Michael (with a dead weight resting on his head) to let go of those feet... and WHY don't we have a working camera for THIS kodak moment!!! So that was 2 moments I would have paid a pretty penny for a working camera today! We won't mention the detonation once we got back to the car and Lauren awoke in the transfer only to realize she WASN'T getting to ride any rides... or the half hour car ride of screaming... but it was a great time none the less, full of moments and memories we shall talk of for years to come!

First day of School!

Our big boys first day of Preschool! Now to figure out what the baby and I do 3 days a week in the empty house!

Fishing take 2

We had a great time at the lake again this weekend! We tried a different part than last weekend... a little cove further from the boat traffic and had a great time floating, swimming, chasing off the begging ducks and geese and playing in the mud! The water was a little chillier than I expected but once in it was great fun - until the kids lips started to turn blue. Then we jumped out for a picnic lunch which we defended from the birds and a little bit of mud and shore time, before getting back in for one last swim before heading home. Daddy tried fishing again this weekend, and again came up empty but he did try... he has a lot to overcome with 3 shrieking kids scaring away those fish! We're in countdown mode to our first camping trip, any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated for camping with toddlers!

look mom... I have monster feet!

Fishing Jenkinson Lake

Daddy has been in a fishing mood. He ordered a new pole, since he thoughtfully left all his gear with his in-laws at their Indiana lake, and that obviously doesn't help him here in California! And while he was thinking about it, decided that it was time for the toddlers to learn to fish too! I was a little weary, it's been a horrible week of both in LOTS of time outs for being Captain Hook and hurting each other, and there is so much damage they could do to each other with real hooks, poles, water, rocks, sand etc. But dad convinced us it was worth a try so we loaded up yesterday morning and headed to Jenkinson Lake in South El Dorado, it was a succes! We never caught anything or even had any nibbles, but that was due more to location than trying. There were very few people at the day use side of the campground in the morning, though it was getting busy as we were leaving around 1ish, so we timed our visit perfectly. Ian got bored first, but then we taught him to "skip" rocks and the idea and splash kept him busy trying for another hour. By the time Lauren got bored, we brought out the bubbles and mommy kept them occupied catching and popping bubbles up and down the beach while Daddy tried to catch a fish. The hard one was Gavin who just wanted to crawl and as the beach was all pebbles and rocks it was not conducive to that even with our heavy blanket. Next time I'll have to do a better job with entertaining him! We had so much fun and it was so beautiful we plan to go back next weekend with floats and swimsuits and do fishing in the morning and once bored head out for some in the lake time! Someday we'll have to try camping there too.

Second Set zoo pictures

A couple more for you to enjoy!

Sacramento Zoo with Mom-Mom & Pop-Pop

At this point we are so happy we bought a family membership to the zoo as we spent another great day enjoying the animals! The temperature was a little cooler so we had animals we had yet to see out and about - I was amazed the hyena was much bigger than I thought. The picture of Lauren and I is in the mister, though it's usually so warm it's just a cooler area of fog! The kids are still most excited about the "playground" when we first get there, then the animals and we finish with the carousel. This time Mom-Mom was generous and took them on the "train" too - though more pictures later once I get my camera and computer to get along again. For now, enjoy some of Mom-Mom's pictures of the zoo, next will be mine and some of the 4 year olds birthday party!

Keeping cool in 100+ degrees

What do you do when Daddy's away for the weekend and it's STILL 100+ degrees? Fill up the baby pool with cold hose water and freeze yourself! I must admit they only played for a half an hour, then the water got warm and Ripley was the only one who would go in. But, then they used their cups to water the corn, the strawberries, the herbs, the lemon trees, the squash, the tomatoes, the pumpkins, the watermelons, the egg plants, the beans... not sure what else dad has planted... but they watered it! I still say something is a little wacky, we had a pool in Chicago, we had a pool in Boston, but in HOT California.... we're requisitioning Ripley's pool to keep the kids cool!