Showing posts with label Stay-cation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stay-cation. Show all posts

Saturday, April 24, 2010

My Walk to the Library with Five Kids in Tow...

As you can imagine,
it all begain with the thought...

"It's not that far, right?"

Sigh.

It IS that far.

But, we survived,
and we had a great time too!

It all began as a result of my seeing how increasigly tiny our house was getting.  Samuel was working on a take home final and studying for yet another.  And after a particularly grueling week it all culminated with a super stressful on-line timed test in which the clock was ticking and you apparently needed TOTAL SILENCE!

Normally, Samuel is super easy-going and can function at top capacity even with three to four kids hanging from his earlobes, but the pressure was on to secure A's in both of these classes and I could see he needed some much needed
"quiet time". 

I know that term well, because I need it often too! 

Anyhow, I got the idea in my head to take the kids to the library and park. 
Not particulary adventuresome,
but what if we walked the 3+ miles instead? 

The kids were thrilled,
so we loaded up the double stroller,
said good luck to dad
(who thought I was nuts and said "good luck" to me too!), 
and we hit the road...

literally!


No hike is complete without a walking stick!


Or a romp in the meadow...


And even though there were signs of weariness, big sisters stepped in to lend a hand...


...and give words of encouragment!


After spying a huge turtle in the creek,
peering into the Oak Forest,
and catching sight of several baseball games,
we crashed under the trees!

We made it!


Time for lunch!

And how enjoyable is it to eat cheese and crackers atop the cool green grass and under the shady canopy of trees?

Bliss!


We hit the park and played in the sand...




...the water...


...and anywhere we could find some shade!






And after a romp on the swings...


...we hit the library to read abit before calling dad to...

PICK US UP!

Happy Trails...


Monday, March 29, 2010

The Black Chasm Caverns


For Samuel's birthday, he took some time off of work and we hit the road!  We ended up at the Black Chasm Caverns, and explored over...and under!

The kiddies had a great time exploring while we waited for our tour to begin.


They also had fun watching water stream from the gold mining sloughs.



Almost there!


We are all anxious to dive deep into the earth!




And so we go!

 



It really is amazing!

And the girls-all but Iris-were mesmerized!


Gabriel was sweet-tart the whole way down and up.  It was only later that we realized we didn't have a bottle on us!  Good thing he's such an easy going baby!




This room was called the "Princess Room".
Iris, who was terrified the entire time, was finally won over!




Back on land we played on the see-saw!  This puppy is ancient and we nearly killed ourselves on it!




The adventure left us starving, and what better way to curb your appetite than a giant pizza from Alonzo's!

Talk about cheesy!


{The Pizza, not Samuel!
Although...}




{Happy Birthday Peanut}



We love you Dad!


Friday, August 7, 2009

Old Sacramento

We've had a lot of fun this summer enjoying some mini stay-cations. For this particular trip, we ventured to a favorite of many, Old Sacramento.

We love checking out the Delta King...

and seeing the murky water of the American River up close!




You can't go and NOT check out the candy store. I love that they give everyone a free sample.

Gabriel's enjoying the view. It's his first time facing out while in his baby carrier. He's growing so fast!

We found this empty lower level plaza and it was the perfect spot to take some pictures of the family.

Owen Joseph

He couldn't resist the gurgling fountain.
He is...all boy.

Isabella Rose

I'm telling you, her smile gets more beautiful every day.

Iris Luciana

Indulging her camera happy mom.

Ava Grace

She loved twirling on this old lamp post...as evident by her huge grin!

Gabriel Dodge

He changes every day. All the more reason to capture him with my camera!

Samuel Dodge

Handsome as all get out. I love this guy!


It's next to impossible to get them to all line up straight!


Heading home!