Goblin Gardens Pumpkin Patch Trip - Bastiao Farms, Sacramento

First trip to Goblin Gardens Pumpkin Patch, Sacramento

Alina driving the John Deere tractor, this would have made
her Great Grandpa Crothers so proud during his farming days

Plenty of great selections in the pumpkin patch

Fun day at Bastiao Farms, they especially loved the seesaw

Little goblins at Goblin Gardens

Alina by the Haunted Barn, the paintings here are great!

Inside the haunted town of Goblin Gardens

We took our first trip to a new pumpkin patch for mommy's birthday this year. We visited Goblin Gardens Pumpkin Patch at Bastiao Farms in Sacramento. This pumpkin patch is the perfect place to go if you only want to spend an hour or two on activities and get some great photo opportunities along the way. With mama being hugely pregnant (38 weeks) and pretty uncomfortable walking long distances, I enjoyed our trip here as the pumpkin patch is relatively small, but there were still plenty of activities to entertain the kids. The admission here is pricier than other pumpkin patches we've visited, but the kids had the best time here despite the sweltering 90+ degree Sacramento Valley weather...is it fall yet, seriously!? 

Goblin Gardens Pumpkin Patch has a cool mini town area for the kids and they loved playing and exploring inside. Also, most of the buildings here are adorned with great paintings, which make for fantastic photos. They also have small hay and corn mazes, hay rides and a train ride through the corn field with costumed ghouls who jump out and surprise everyone on board. The hay pyramid here was one of the tallest we've seen yet. Dad, of course, helped the girls scale it...success! All in all, it was a fun/overly hot day. We went home with a few large pumpkins which will eventually be turned to jack-o-lanterns before Halloween. Mama had a fun birthday this year, though a part of me wished all my walking that day would have jump-started labor. I am over being pregnant and ready to meet our little man.

The fun kids town at Goblin Gardens Pumpkin Patch

Alina exiting the saloon 

Everyone ready for a very fun hay ride

Alina and Daddy, all smiles before the hay ride

They scaled their tallest hay maze yet

Smiles and waves from the top

Goodbye Goblin Gardens pumpkin patch!

LA Trip Part II: A Morning of Amusement at Pacific Park & Santa Monica Pier

View of the beach and Santa Monica Pier / Boardwalk

Riding the Pacific Wheel at Santa Monica Pier; great views!

Our birds eye view of Pacific Park & Santa Monica Beach

Santa Monica pier souvenirs

Fun on the rides, Elise wasn't too sure about the roller coaster

Beautiful flowers on the pier

Pacific Park amusement fun

Our next stop during our LA trip was beautiful Santa Monica Pier & Beach. Pacific Amusement Park had just the right amount of rides to entertain the kids for a couple of hours then we had the rest of the morning to relax. We all loved riding the Pacific Wheel as the views of the sprawling Santa Monica coastline were stunning. They really enjoyed the other rides too, however Elise was NOT happy with Daddy for convincing her that the roller coaster would be fun haha. Although we visited on a Sunday morning, we arrived early enough to beat the crowds so there were little to no wait times on any of the rides, which made for a productive day. 

We had lunch on the pier and then headed to the beach for some relaxation time. The beach was very windy on this April day, so Mom stayed warm by wrapping herself up like a burrito in beach towels while Dad and the girls braved the cold ocean water. They had fun building sand castles and dad helped to build a giant sand pit to shield the girls from the wind! They also enjoyed feeding the hungry seagulls who were skilled enough to catch the food midair. Santa Monica was a great place to spend the morning, and I'm glad we finally got a chance to visit during this trip. We definitely plan to visit again someday.

Cute smiles and laughter all morning long

Voldemort & Barbie are neighbors here in Santa Monica

Lovely Santa Monica Beach

Daddy helped the girls build this awesome sand pit

Sandy toes and beach play fun

Feeding the seagulls; they caught the food in the air!

End of Route 66 in Santa Monica & the end of a fun day!

Elise's 2014 Preschool Class Reunion

Elise's Montessori preschool classmates reunion

These little friends had the best time playing together again

The smiles and laughter lasted all afternoon long

They all played together like no time had passed
...some were camera shy (hah!)

Happy kiddos - looking forward to their next little reunion

Celebrating Rainbows

Rainbow spotting brings immeasurable joy!

After a recent February rain storm, we were rewarded with a beautiful full rainbow. The girls were jumping for joy and believed it was put there solely for their visual enjoyment, and who are we to dare argue with such cute logic, right!? They spent about 15 minutes outside dancing and raising up their arms in excitement completely shoeless on the damp pavement, not a care in the world. It's little moments like these where the two of us relish in the opportunity to sit back and take in the sweetness of their little universe. Love these two so much.

Celebrating Daddy's Birthday with the Girls First Ski Trip!

Enjoying our very first family ski/snowboard trip!

Our two little snow bunnies ready to hit the slopes

Mama before hitting the slopes on a solo run

We celebrated Daddy's birthday with our very first family ski/snowboard trip! This year the girls were both at ages where we felt comfortable letting them hit the slopes and hit the slopes they did...literally ;)  I think we both burned close to 2000 calories that day helping them down the slopes, picking them up when they fell, recovering lost skis, smoothing over bruised egos AND bodies. I'm glad we decided on starting them off on skis because I could see this being much more difficult had they been on snowboards. The good news is that after a very long morning of falling and picking themselves back up, they finally started getting it by the last couple runs of the day! They didn't want to leave in the end, so we consider that success. 

I know for a fact that the next time we bring them up we will invest in ski or snowboard lessons. I think with a few more trips that these two will become avid little skiers or snowboarders. Unfortunately, for us in California this is one of the warmest winters we've had in years. There really isn't much snow up in the Sierras and it was warm all day long. Of course, I've been reading about record breaking cold temperatures elsewhere around the US, and have to say that we would gladly absorb some of those cold temperatures. We are certainly missing the snow and fresh powder here in the Sierras. Here's hoping that we get a few more storms this season.

About every 10 feet, this happened! They're little troopers though

Fun in the snow: perfect way to celebrate Daddy's birthday

The girls got in a bit of sled fun before heading home

Play Time & Sunsets

Scooter fun out in our court, love those smiles

Play time with their best neighborhood buddies

Elise's chalk art Olaf

She also did this adorable Elsa chalk drawing

She posed by her art, but I zoomed in on that sweet smile!

Beautiful pink and purple sunset

So lovely, all four of us just sat back and watched the sky

Perfect end to a relaxing weekend

October Trip to Apple Hill

The four of us enjoying our day in Apple Hill

Fun with little friends at Bill's Apple Orchard

Little pumpkins

Beautiful views at Bill's Apple Orchard

Mom with her two little dolls; love them!

We visited Apple Hill this past weekend with some of our close friends and their kids. As we were driving up it quickly dawned on me that the last time we took a trip to Apple Hill was before Elise learned to walk, so this trip was long overdue! The weather was beautiful and sunny and the kids had a fantastic time frolicking around the flower fields, apple orchards and pumpkin patches. Our first stop was Bill's Apples Orchard. We were drawn in by the bright and beautiful yellow and orange flower fields; perfect for fall photos. The kids were excited to get a free freshly peeled apple when they arrived. They ran around exploring to their hearts content. We then made our way over to Apple Ridge Farms for a visit to the pumpkin patch, hay maze and petting zoo. The kids got to pick out pumpkins and feed the goats. The biggest highlight for the girls was getting their faces painted. We waited over a half hour in line for it, but they were thrilled to show off their freshly painted faces and pose for some cute fall photos. It was a fun little weekend adventure and we certainly plan to make Apple Hill a yearly excursion from here on out.

Exploring the pumpkin patch at Apple Ridge Farms

Sweet Alina posing with her Minnie Mouse face painting

Elise showing off her Halloween face paint plus missing tooth

Cuties having fun posing for photos

Love these two sweet pumpkins