Caleb, Tyler, Lauren, Shannon, Evan, and Justin
The girls trick or treating with Laney, Phoebe, Claire, and Brandon
A quick hello to our friend's the Lokowich Family.
We invited friends down to experience the "world's largest corn maze" at Cool Pumpkin Patch in Dixon, Ca....I assumed we would take the shortest route and tool around considering it was 6 kids, 3 moms-including my pregnant belly, and one navigating Daddy! Silly me....Daniel had us trucking through the corn maze for what seemed like FOREVER only to find out were were 1/3 of the way through and the little kids (Phoebe and Shannon, including myself) were melting and running out of steam) so we had to make a grand escape and walk around the outside of the maze near the main road to get back to the car :) The older kids had a GREAT time and wish we could have taken them back but the corn maze blew down in a crazy wind storm a week after we went so that was our exciting corn maze experience for the year :)
...unfortunately you could not take the wagon's into the maze but the kids enjoyed the ride to the pumpkins!
The day of that crazy sideways blowing rain storm (which I guess is "normal weather" down here) the girls got to try out their new raincoats from Grandma Lee and boy were they much needed! Just getting out of the car to meet Lauren off the bus had my jeans soaked that day with a raincoat on!) Living near Troutdale Oregon I knew rain could blow sideways but this is monsoon weather...like a wild tropical storm....should be good times when baby boy joins us!
Shannon's preschool visited a cute rustic pumpkin patch called SilverBend in West Sacramento. Since Daniel was at work Lauren had a "sick day" and joined us (so worth it!) The highlight of the trip was trying to carry 3 free pumpkins from the patch to the car pregnant w/o a wagon. One of Shannon's classmates dad was kind enough to carry his families pumpkins plus one of ours. His wife was even more pregnant than myself and they had a baby in stroller in tow...made for an exhausting hike to the car....if labor was going to come early that would have been the day!
The girls LOVEd this hay maze you could walk on or inside.
Shannon and one of her new friends Nicholas (whom she makes paper hearts for weekly) :)
Getting ready to ride the train! 
Shannon enjoys running around the grassy area waiting for the bus and collecting leaves :)
There she is!
Lauren is the only kindergardener on her bus so she gets to sit up front and be the first off w/ her bus driver :) She was SO excited to ride the bus home! Wednesday is early release for 1-6 grade so I found out the hard way that if she rides Wedesdays it's a different bus and a different route that would put her sitting on the bus an hour! We only live 15 min. from her school so Wednesdays I pick her up :) 
For national alpaca day (who knew?) we stopped by a local alpaca farm and enjoyed visiting with the locals :) 
It was a bit windy! Alcatraz in the background.
A trip to the mall in Fairfield :)
Shannon and I enjoying a non-preschool afternoon.
Shannon's band practice :)
... behind the scenes of the magic show the girls were putting on for Daniel and I
All clean after baths posing in the playroom.
This year was our fourth and probably final year watching the balloon races with Daniel's aunt Barb and uncle Harold in Reno as they recently moved back to Oregon :). Since Barb use to work for a company that sponsored a balloon and she helped each year get the balloon up we were able to share their great parking pass (versus walking with the masses at 5am to see the dawn patrol) and were able to enjoy sitting in their warm tent until the sun came up and we could walk the field. We will miss our annual trip but cherish the memories :)
Posing with my girls
A quick picture before the balloon inflated and took off (then Barb was off in the chaser car to follow the balloon and help get it folded up and put back into the trailer)
The girls watching Aunt Barb's balloon get inflated
Shannon showing signs of waking up at 4am :)
The girls and aunt Barb wearing their balloon race t-shirts...
...and showing some love to uncle Harold.
Our first amazing time in 2006
