Preschool Pumpkin Patch Day

One of the outings we went on with Hannah's preschool was to the pumpkin patch. The kids had a marvelous time. More than anything it was a fun time to connect with Hannah's friends and the parents. 

Hannah has become very good friends with several girls there. Here are two of her friends Marissa and Ava walking to the pumpkin patch hand in hand. 

Hannah posing in front a huge pumpkin. Isn't she a fall child? Those fall colors definitely look good on her!

Here are two of her friends Amber and Marissa. They were all excited because they were about to go on a hay ride. 

Hannah and Marissa running through a corn maze. These two are inseparable. They have been best friends since day one of preschool. 

Here's Hannah's preschool class. They all have such a fun time together.

Apple Hill

Oh, how I love when Autumn hits the Sacramento area. I'm sure in other parts of the country the leaves are more beautiful...blah blah blah. But, our area really has a lot to offer. One of my favorite things to do is go to Apple Hill. I went with my friend/neighbor Natalie this year and had a great time! The kids were so excited to go.

 They got to go to a pumpkin patch and pick their favorite.

Andrew got to sit on a real tractor and pretend that he was a farmer. 

 We got to pet the farm animals. They had goats, pigs and chickens. And we got to go on a hay ride.

The farmer gave us a ride on his hay wagon. Wasn't that nice of him?

Our daughter Hannah has been looking forward to going to preschool ever since she turned 3, and found out that there was such a thing as "school." Well, the day finally arrived and boy was she excited! We got some good recommendations from fellow parents of some of the preschools in our area, and after visiting Small Wonders, decided that would be a good option for Hannah. 

 Little Andrew was a little sad that Hannah had to leave for a couple of hours, but since it was during his nap, he really didn't know the difference. 

She got to meet her teacher Miss Cathie, and read out loud all the letters in her name perfectly. 

What was the first thing she did on her first day of school? She made a new friend. She went up to a girl named Marissa, and asked her if she wanted to be friends. Marissa said, "Sure." Now they are inseparable. Don't you wish it were that easy to make friends?

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!