Fancy French Cafe

One of the things we love to do as a family is find new places to eat that are local, healthy, have a cultural flair, and are just not your typical "chain" restaurant. Travis discovered this cute little french cafe in downtown Sacramento called Cafe Rolle, and couldn't wait to take us there. We got there around 11 AM (the Rhodes family eats lunch early since our lovely kids like to wake up early), which was perfect because there were not too many people there yet. About 30 minutes after we came the place was packed. Hannah wanted to dress up for the occasion, and of course show off for the camera.

Here's Hannah and I posing for the handsome camera man (ie Travis). 

The food they brought us at the cafe was DE-LICIOUS! We had smoked salmon sandwiches on crusty french bread and Toffee-creme brulee for dessert. 

Doesn't Travis look like the typical european in that hat? That's my cultural husband for you!

Hannah's 4th Birthday

If you are wondering if you are having a Deja-Vu moment, and thinking to yourself, hmmm, didn't Hannah have her birthday party at a water park LAST year? You are RIGHT! We have had her birthday party at the same water park in Folsom for 3 years in a row now. It has worked out so well because the weather in Sacramento is abominably HOT in July, and the kids have a great time cooling off in the water.  One of our friends made a fun "I 'm 4 now" Tank top for Hannah that she proudly wore that day.

There was an abundance of food, thanks to Trav's family being there to help out. Unfortunately, because it was so hot that day (I'm sure it was in the triple digits) the cupcakes melted a little and the flies were all over the food, but good thing it all still tasted good! 

Here's Hannah being silly with Grandma and Grandpa. It was so great having her grandparents and other family there at the party. That made it very memorable. 

Trav's two brothers Justin and Daniel, and their wives/fiancee's. Aren't they cute? :)

Here are some friends that came to her birthday party.

Thanks everybody for making it a special day for Hannah!

Trav's family comes for a visit

We had a lot going on when we came back from our trip to Germany. A week later, Travis's family came for a visit, and that same week we celebrated Hannah's birthday. This was the first time we met Justin's fiancee Jen and also cousin Taylor. We all had a great time! Here's a trip to the train museum.

It was so much fun getting to know my sister-in-laws better, and we really got to bond this trip. Here we are hanging out in the livingroom. 

If anyone has slept at our house, you will know that our kids do NOT sleep in. Here is Andrew snuggling with Uncle Daniel on the blow up mattress, just after he woke up. 

Hannah had a great time getting to know Aunt Jenna and hanging out with her. 

I've got to say, the most fun they probably had though was playing with their cousin Taylor. He did such a great job playing with his "younger" cousins, and they had a great time. 

My favorite part? I hardly had to cook. The men did it all. It sure was tasty too. I don't think our BBQ has ever gotten that much use in one week! What a nice break to have time to hang out with everybody instead.

Our trip to Germany

In June, the kids and I went on a two week trip to Germany to visit Oma and Opa. Our flights to Germany and and back were super long, but the kids were such troopers.  I was so proud of them.

 It took us about a 4 days just to get used to the 9 hour time change, with a couple middle of the night episodes but after that we were all good to go. What were some of the things we did there? 

We made daisy chains, 

 enjoyed the sunshine, 

 rode on scooters (that used to be mine when I was his age),

swam at the swimming pool, 

picked wild flowers out of Oma's garden, 

and ate some yummy Germany food (if you are interested in seeing more Germany food and recipes, check out this link on my food blog German Food . 

 We also saw lot's of friends including my friends Ramona, Melanie and Jennifer from my old german swim team KSK,

 brother in law Daniel,

and Julian (he's my friend Melanie's boy who is only a couple weeks younger than Hannah).

We went to a Dinosaur Park in Kaiserslautern, 

Rosegarden in Schmittshausen, 

and Saarbrucken Zoo.

The day we got there, Germany was experiencing a heat wave, so this is how the kids stayed cool while we were there. My mom brought out an "outdoor" shower that you stick in the ground, and attache a hose to it. Came in very useful!

 And of course, last but not least, we had a great time visiting with Oma and Opa. Thanks so much for a great time!

Oh, how we love our cherry tree!

This year we had a great year for cherries. Every morning for a month, the kids would go outside with their buckets and pick a bunch of cherries off of the branches they could reach. They are still kind of little, but useful for making jelly, sauces, and apparently decorating our house and ourselves. 

Good thing the stuff washes off with just a little water! Oh, Happy Memories!

Popsicle Days

What was one of our favorite summertime treat during the hot, hot summer months? 

 Popsicles! We would make smoothies for breakfast and then freeze any leftovers in these Popsicle molds for a tasty treat after nap time. They were delicious! If you would like some yummy recipes, check out my food blog at this link Popsicle Treats

Andrew's Birthday Party

I know, I know, it's been a while since I've posted anything. My only excuse is: We've had a BUSY summer! Can anybody else relate with that? :) So, I thought I would update you on a couple highlights of our summer. To kick it off, we celebrated Andrew's birthday party in May. Our little man turned 2 and had a grand old time playing at a neighborhood park with balloons, 

eating yummy "oreo dirt" cupcakes with gummy worms sticking out of them, 

blowing out his candles on his dump truck cake

and playing with all his toys/gifts from his friends.

 Thank you so much to everyone who made this a spectacular event and good memories!