Pumpkin Patches and The BIG Corn Maze!

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!

Awanas!

Since our new church in town has Awana's I thought it would be a great way for the girls to make some new friends and learn some more bible verses! Each Tuesday night they go to their classes and play games, do crafts and recite their verse for the week which helps them earn badges for their vests. Lauren is in Sparky's and Shannon is a Cubbie (Bear). Lauren decided Baby Bear needed a vest too so here she is posing the morning after getting her vest with the vest she made for her favorite toy (still) Baby Bear!

The girls modeling their new vests.

www.vvcrossroads.org

Lauren Rides the School Bus!

Where is that bus?

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 :)

Llamas and Grandmas...a visit from my Mom

For national alpaca day (who knew?) we stopped by a local alpaca farm and enjoyed visiting with the locals :)



We took Grandma to San Francisco to see the Sea Lions at Pier 39,

It was a bit windy! Alcatraz in the background.

A trip to the mall in Fairfield :)

Time to play catch up!

Here are a few random pictures from early September.

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.

Reno Balloon Races 2009

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

Firsts...

Lauren's first time riding her bike without training wheels!

One goal we had for the summer was to help Lauren ride her bike without training wheels. She is confident on her bike but with the move and summer vacation that goal got put on hold a bit. So finally this past weekend we made a day out of it, packed a lunch and hung out at the park for a laid back day of learning!

First Daniel took the pedals off Shannon's smaller bike and let Lauren get use to balancing and coasting around and using her feet to balance, then once the wheels were back on she was less nervous and we held onto the back while she got the feel of the pedals again and using her feet to balance. She was still very wobbly so by the end of the afternoon I asked her if she thought she could ride a short distance to the grass then if she fell it would be a soft fall and that seemed to motivate her so each time she made it to the grassy field she started further and further back until she was riding across the park to the grassy field all by herself!



Probably just a few more days of practice getting comfortable and I think she will be confident and steady enough to be training wheel free :) The best part was her smile and laugh...during the entire day she was happy and determined, enjoying each moment of instruction while striving to meet her goal. Good job Lauren~we are SO proud of you!!

All the while Shannon was quite the sport, cheering on her sister, playing at the park, and going between riding Lauren's big bike with training wheels and her all time favorite tricycle.



Lauren's First day of Kindergarten!!


Lauren showing off her new backpack all smiles before heading off to her first day! This was the first year she had an opinion about what she wanted to wear for day 1. :) Even though she was nervous since her buds from preschool would not be with her she had a great attitude! She was pretty nervous when Daniel and I dropped her off but by day 2 she had made a few friends and was happy about her class and teachers.


Lauren you are such a big girl! We love you so much!

Shannon's First Day of Preschool! Monday August 24, 2009



Shannon Alyse getting ready to head off to her first day!

Where did the time go my little one? It seems like it was just yesterday you were a baby and now you are off to preschool just like your sister did last year. I cherished our special times together last year at home and pray you make friends and have a wonderful experience growing this year. Shannon we love you so much!!

Even though Shannon is very social and was never shy at Lauren's school or even Lauren's first day of school when we dropped off sister, I could tell she was a bit reserved as we helped her find her name and seat on her first day. So precious :) The week before I took the girls to get their hair trimmed and it must have given Shannon the grand idea to come home and cut her own hair as the left side has a nice large chunk shorter than the rest :)



Our transition to the district was not a smooth one to say the least. Even though we had come down to Fairfield in the spring to check out schools, we were not able to register Shannon until Aug 18th because that is how long it took the district to tell us if Lauren was in am or pm kindergarten. In addition to this we missed kinder orientation because the district failed to tell us our intra district transfer to the school I wanted was approved so almost headed off the the wrong school for their orientation :) I knew the school fiasco was out of my hands and that if God wanted Shannon to go to preschool He would provide so all summer I left the issue in His hands and prayed it would work out with both girls going at similar times at good schools. With baby boy coming this fall I also knew I could not spend the days shuttling the girls between mornings and afternoons. So finally once I got word that Lauren was pm I called preschool after preschool and was told over and over again they were all full. I even contemplated a morning coop preschool for Shannon but found out they would not allow siblings under 2 to be there during the parent's work shift. Finally as a last effort I called my first choice school again. One that had told me the week before there were no spots open (and had been full for months) but felt compelled to try one more time. To my pleasant suprise I was told they decided to add 1 more pm preschool and there were spots open! When I got off the phone I sat in amazement and cried. Not only had God provided like He promises, it was the perfect time and perfect location so that I could drop off Lauren at 11:25, then make it to Shannon's with time to spare by Noon and the same pick up scenario with getting Lauren at 2:45 and Shannon at 4. No other preschool would have worked for us this year. Our God is so good :)


Phillippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.