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!

The Girls Gymnastics Summer Olympics

Little medalists

Performing in the Summer Olympics challenge at gymnastics

Out of all the sports that the girls have tried, one stands out above all the rest; gymnastics. The girls started up gymnastics again earlier this summer and they have been loving every moment of it. I've had them both in teams sports and I think Alina is still a bit too young to really get in competition mode, while Elise does not like being aggressive whatsoever and she usually will fall back to the rest of the team in most cases. With gymnastics, I think they really enjoy challenging themselves and I am proud as I've seen so much improvement from the both of them. Elise has been working on her bridge and cartwheels, she's got great form now and much more flexibility. Alina is a little ball of energy at gymnastics class. She is excellent on the bars and can flip herself over easily now. Their gym recently hosted a mini Summer Olympic challenge for the kids. They both got to do some circuits and an ending floor routine, which left mom and dad very impressed. They were excited to receive their medals. I look forward to watching these little gymnasts grow and progress even further! 

Alina preparing for the podium

Alina showing off her medal

Happy Fouth of July 2015!

Fourth of July festivities 2015

Cuties all ready for fireworks

Hanging out with Nana & Papa

Smoke bomb fun

Alina's first sparkler of 2015

Such a joy to watch the girls play

Happy Fourth of July 2015! We enjoyed a very fun and festive display on our court this year. The grandparents joined us along with some close friends and the kids thoroughly enjoyed lighting up the night sky with sparklers and fireworks. The biggest hit each year have been the smoke bombs. They love the colors and running through the vibrant smoke filled air (whilst plugging their noses and laughing hysterically of course). Later in the evening, once the fireworks were exhausted, they moved on to glow stick dancing and we had to drag them inside by the end of the night. It was a very fun holiday and so nice to be able to enjoy all this just right outside our front door, no crowds or traveling involved. We're certainly loving these lazy summer weekends.

Elise with her super sparkler XXL

Sparkler fun

Alina with her super sparkler XXL

Firework display

Glow stick dance parties are a must

Elise has got the moves

Alina's got the twirls down pat

End of a fun evening. Happy 4th 2015!

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!

LA Trip Part I: Fun in the Sun, Water, and Sand at Redondo Beach, CA

Watching sailboats at Redondo Beach

Our little beach lover, Alina

Redondo Beach Landing & Pier

They loved dipping their feet in the waves

Little beach bums

Two very happy girls having fun in the sun, water and sand

Redondo Beach Pier - My grandparents took me here years ago

Last weekend we took our third family trip to Los Angeles, except that this time there was no Disneyland fun/madness; we went to visit my Aunt, Uncle and little cousins in Torrance and got in plenty of relaxing beach time too. It was so nice to have a more laid back family trip where we weren't on-the-go from sun up to sun down. It was also wonderful to see the little cousins spend time together as they are all close in ages and shared so much laughter in the time they spent playing.

We also had the chance to take the girls to nearby Redondo Beach & Pier, which was a great experience for all of us. When momma was little, I used to visit here with my grandparents and had so much fun! It brought back lots of great memories from my childhood, even though the pier has changed so much from what I remember back in my youth. The girls loved exploring the fun little shops on the pier and we even enjoyed seal watching right out our table window at breakfast, which was a great treat for the girls. Their favorite part of all was the beach! They loved running through the sand and waiting for the waves to crash and drench their little toes. Alina was so brave around the water this time. She last experienced the ocean waves in Maui, and was very cautious back then. This time around she waded out even further and didn't have a care when one larger wave soaked her waist level. The smiles and laughter that they shared on the beach that day is unforgettable.

Windy day fun on the pier

Exploring Redondo Beach pier

Bright future indeed!

Walking the pier and seafood spotting

Pink & white shrimp

Seal watching at breakfast, the girls loved it!

Elise spotted this stoic Black Crown Night Heron watching us

Sweet little cousin play time