The mud pit

The large dirt pit under the orange tree in our backyard.  I gave in and let them make mud.  The pit has since been filled with decomposed granite which was supposed to keep it cleaner, nope, made it so much worse.  Now it's a big, dusty sandbox.  Oh well.  It's a rental and it's one year.  That's Gloria, and I might steal her when we move.

After School

I had to snap this because I thought it was funny they were all sitting on the one bench, all comfy-cozy.  Gloria is a welcome guest in our home.  We try to lure the girls in any way we can. She has a brother Jack and they live next door to us.  Connor loves his "Gooreeya."

Impossible Acres Farm

I heard the baby animals were a don't miss, so we chose Impossible Acres as our pumpkin patch destination this year.  They have a petting zoo like I've never seen before, you can get right up close to all the baby animals.  It was sweet.  Our favorite was the kittens, we kept going back to them.  There was also a tractor ride, a haystack maze and, of course, some pumpkin pickin'. 

Never give a baby an Oreo

I seriously wonder what's made up of an Oreo.  Messiest cookie on the planet. 

Sunday Snuggles

My babies are growing.  I try not to think about it, because when I do, my heart aches.

And we have a scooter....

Despite our best efforts to prolong the "immobile" stage for as long as possible, Jacob took it upon himself to learn to scoot.  He's a much happier baby now that he has free access to things to chew on.  And I'm a Nervous Nelly trying to keep small objects off the floor. 

Back to School

Theodore Judah is an old school and the feeling I get when I'm there is that it's a well-loved school.  Change is hard and the first day my boys came home with an unfavorable report, but the next day was much better and they seem happy. The boys can ride their scooters to school, they love that.

A visit from Grandma & Grandpa

Grandma & Grandpa drove up to see us for Connor's 3rd birthday. We celebrated by going shopping for toys (of course) and taking the boys to the California State Railroad Museum, which is amazing.

I went all out with the cake this year, right?  I'm not going to mention any names, but someone got his hands into the cake when it was sitting in the fridge, just minding its own business.

This little guy just goes with the flow. 

My mom and I also got our craft on while she was here.

Costco with four boys

I just had to document my bi-weekly adventures to Costco with four children.  Yes, it is as exhausting as it looks.  Add 100 degree weather and a trip to the gym before and a trip to the pool afterward for added effect.

Morse Park

In Sacramento, there are a ton of free splash parks. Morse Park in Elk Grove was our favorite.

Jelly Belly Factory

We met up with our good friends from our Shoreline days (the Holts who are now living in the bay area) to visit the Jelly Belly factory. Did you know that President Reagan helped make these guys famous? He insisted on having Jelly Belly's at his meetings and gave them to visitors as gifts.

Andrew, Timothy, Jack, Joshy, Kassie

Bertha Henschel Park

Andrew, Jack (our neighbor), Joshy, Connor

This is the park a block away from our house.  It has a play pool that's open all summer and then this play area.  I really don't think we could have found a better place to live while we're here in Sacramento.  It feels like we were planted in the exact right spot we're supposed to be.