Good-Bye to Tia and Hassan...at the Pumpkin Patch

It's been a wonderful summer having my sister and her husband home, but it is sadly time for them to return to Morocco.  Their baby is due in just two months, so they have lots to do and prepare for back there, as well as get back to work.  So, for our final adventure, we took them to the pumpkin patch (Hassan has never been).  We headed over to Lemos Farms which is only a once a year visit for us, as it is normally so packed with people, it just isn't enjoyable.  But, since Jake has half days of school on Wednesdays, we headed straight there after pick-up, and it was nice and quiet.   We are sad to see them go, especially since we won't see them until next summer.  Safe travels Tia and Hassan!

 

 

 

I'm behind!

Oh boy...I'm way behind on this blog, I know.  The days are blazing by, and I'm realizing that I've totally and completely overcommitted myself this year already.  The vast majority of the hours I have all three kids in school are now consumed with all of these volunteer things:
- Board member of our local twin group- VP of Events and Social Groups.  This includes organizing multiple small group outings  a month, as well as several all group parties throughout the year.  
- Board member of the PTA- Chair of Student Services
- School Merchandise chair
- Yearbook editor
- Holiday Boutique Chair
- Jake's room parent
- 2nd Grade A-Z book coordinator
- 2nd Grade Art in Action volunteer
- Wild Zone Ranger
- Preschool room parent
Oh, and that leaves the Mom duties of cooking, cleaning, laundry, scheduling, shuttling, fixing things and organizing our family of five to take up the rest of the time.  
What a year it is going to be!! ha ha!

So, to quickly catch up on a few fun things:
Dad's birthday was a kick.  As he is the king of taste tests, we had a hilarious It's-It ice cream taste test for dessert.  

 

 Jake had his first sleepover at a friend's house last weekend.  He has been invited many times before, but he has never wanted to go as he loves his family time so much.  But, there was zero hesitation this time, barely a good-bye to us, and a whole lot of fun for him at Sam's house.

 The girls had fun trying on silly masks- as of now though, Addy wants to be a veterinarian and Colbie wants to be a firefighter for Halloween this year.  We will see as it approaches if they change their mind as usual.

 

Jake's doing great in soccer still.  He won Player of the Game this past weekend.  He also has basketball league going on on Sundays, so the kid is busy!

Of course, the scorching weather has brought the kids and I to the pool often for the past few weeks to cool down.  Yesterday we brought out the few water toys we had and just let them all play in the backyard to cool down.  I finally remembered to pull out the camera too:

Addy is a complete goof in front of a camera these days, so I can forget about getting a normal picture of the two girls together!

Lastly, we got some bocce time with Tia and Hassan before they leave in just three short days.

 

Happy Birthday Granddad!

We wish Granddad a very, very HAPPY BIRTHDAY today!!   It sounds like they had a wonderful celebration already this weekend, but we look forward to having mini celebration today as well.  We love you!

The Week

A few pics from our week:

We went to the pool twice this week, once after school and once this weekend.  The kids are getting more and more confident in the water...now if the girls would only take swim lessons!

We had Baby Dominic day.  It was quite hilarious walking to school with FOUR kids.  We had some parents from our school very confused as to how we had a little one in a stroller again!   Baby Dominic really is an unusually wonderful baby, with very few whines, and endless smiles.

Saturday was our annual block party.  It's always a good time to see all of our neighbors and to watch the kids all play together.  Our three opted for a sleepover in Jake's room that night.  We were sure that it would be giggles and goofing off all night, but they all crashed super early and quietly!

Jake had an awesome soccer game too- made the first THREE goals of the game...more goals than me scored all of last season!

Happy Anniversary Tia and Hassan!

Today we wish my sister Erica and Hassan a very Happy Anniversary!!!   

Awesome Getaway!

With the crazy workweeks that Josh has been putting in, and really our last chance of a fun night away as a family for awhile because of our busy sports schedule, we decided to pick a fun place somewhere close to have a mini-vacation this weekend.  We seem to always go south or west, so I pushed for north, and booked us a night up in Sonoma.  We haven't ever brought the girls up there, and we hadn't brought Jake in over fours years too, so it sounded like a great new adventure.  We started out early on Sunday morning and headed straight to Traintown in downtown Sonoma.  It's a very small, but cute and fun park with a little train to ride.  It worked out great, as the kids were thrilled to go on all of the rides, but we finished the whole thing in about two hours and could move on to more adventures.  We headed to the Square and picked up a picnic from the yummy cheese shop, and had playtime in the park at the Square.  The weather was perfect up there this weekend, and we found a fantastic family friendly hotel only a block from the adorable Sonoma Square area.  The hotel let us jump in the pool before check-in, which proved to be a fun and relaxing way to spend the afternoon.  Our room, once ready, was right off of the pool and hottub area, and worked out great for our fam.  For dinner we walked back up to the square to Mary's Pizzeria where the kids got to make their very own pizzas.  This morning we slept in (until 7:30am :(), ate the free hotel breakfast, and then walked around the Sonoma Mission Park area, and then headed out to Santa Rosa.  I have wanted to visit the Charles Shultz Museum for years, but I've never found the reason to make the drive.  But, it worked out great to head there today!  I can not speak more highly of this museum.  For the kids, there are scavenger hunts, crosswords to solve and an entire art/playroom.  The exhibits were fascinating, as our family LOVES Charlie Brown, although I could have used a bit more time to read through everything.  The kids had a blast, especially in the kids playroom where we all made origami Snoopy dog houses.  Across the street Charles Shultz built an ice rink (apparently he was quite the hockey player for fun!), so we sat and watched ice skaters for lunch.  The gift shop was pure heaven as well.  Such a fun filled weekend, and we'll definitely be going back up north sometime soon!

 There was a great exhibit about "Mr. Schultz Goes to Washington", where the kids actually got to vote for a Peanuts character and put it into a ballot box just like we will be doing soon for our next President.  I loved the area where kids were asked to write postcards to our incoming President about what their hopes are for the President.  The Museum collects them and then is actually sending them to the White House.  So cool for my kids to experience and to start a great conversation.