Lily's Apple Hill Field Trip

One of the benefits of having all of your kids in school is being able to volunteer there.  I was able to go with Lily on her field trip to Apple Hill.  Apple Hill is a community of apple orchards just up the freeway from us towards Lake Tahoe.  It is a very beautiful place to visit and yummy too.  Lily and Mom had fun riding the bus together and then learning about making apple cider.  We also got to pick apples and ride the train.

 It was a beautiful fall day!

Jog-a-thon

The kids each participated in their schools Jog-a-thon. The Jog-a-thon is a fundraiser for their schools PTA.  They run around the track as many times as they can to earn prizes and money for their school. The parents are encouraged to come and cheer for their kids as they run.  It was fun to watch Lily and Alex have fun running.

Soccer, Soccer, XC, and more XC!

Fall means sports for our family.  Lily and Sarah are both playing soccer.  Alex and Sarah are both doing running.  Alex is running with the Buffalo Chips Youth Running Club and Sarah is running on her school's cross country team.  They all have been really busy, but loving it!

 Lily is an awesome soccer player.  She love to be goalie and a defender.  She is really good too.  We love watching her determination and good sportsmanship.  Most of her teammates are in her Kindergarten class which is really fun.  She likes playing with her friends!

 Man down!  Lily is about a foot taller than most of the other girls.  She definitely has a little advantage when they try to push her around.  (She didn't push the girl down in the picture above, she just tripped.  ;))

 I didn't get a lot of pictures of Sarah playing.  She has a completely new team this year, but her friend Sadie is on the team with her.  She has been playing really good and has an amazing offensive left kick!!  We love watching the older girls play.  There seems to be more organization and passing going on than in the games with  the little ones.

 Sarah is also running XC with Folsom Middle School.  She has some good friends on the team and loves it.  She usually comes in 3rd place each meet for the girls team.  She has been super busy with Soccer and XC on the same days!  We love watching her run hard and kick into the finish line.

 Alex has been running with the Buffalo Chips Running club.  He is now officially independently running in races.  Dave runs a little with him at practice, but he usually runs with his group and in races runs on his own.  He is one of the youngest boys and does really well.  He has put in some amazing long runs on Saturdays running 5 miles.  We sure love watching him and how much he loves being a runner!

 Daddy and Alex recently ran the Willow Hills XC Meet.  Dad was running against a bunch of college age kids and still did really good for being 12 years their senior.  A couple more years and he can dominate the masters age group!

 Alex brings up the rear in the Willow Hills XC meet!  He didn't slow down the whole time!

 Dad checking his watch at the finish, while causing some serious pain for the guy in front of him.

Whew! Sweaty.  Time to relax.

Impromptu Hike at the Lake

We go on a lot of impromptu hikes and walks at night.  The kids love it when they involve headlamps.  One evening Dad got the fun idea to head to the lake for a little hike at Sunset.  So we all grabbed our headlamps and headed out.  Mom grabbed her camera a got a few pretty pictures of the sun going down over the lake.  Our way back to the car was mostly in the dark.  We walked and talked with the light of our headlamps for a few miles.  It was a fun adventure!

Dad's 38th Birthday!

We celebrated Dad's birthday this week!  He turned 38.  Lily wanted to help mom decorate for Dad's party.  She drew out her plan on a piece of paper that included a balloon and a double cake stand with cookies and treats.  So Mom and Lily went to the store and picked out a balloon and then put two cake stands together. 5 year old's love party planning! 

Daddy got some nice presents from the kids and enjoyed his day! We sure do love him. He works hard for our family and a BIG help to mom!  

Back to School

The summers here always go by so fast.  There is so much to see and do, that the days zip by.

 This year was an exciting year for our family.  All of the kids were in school for the first time.  Lily started Kindergarten, Alex started 3rd grade, and Sarah started 8th grade.  All of their teachers are wonderful.

Alex was really excited to get back to school and see his friends.  Lily after the first day said "I am glad I finally get to go to school".  Sarah didn't want summer to end.  I think she remembers the work that is ahead.

Morning at Folsom Lake

We spent a morning playing at home in Folsom Lake. We bought a little boat and took it out for a test run. The kids had a lot of fun and so did Mom and Dad.  We swam and paddled out to an island about 200 yards out from the shore.  The kids were excited to get there until they found that is was covered in goose poop.  They named it Goose Poop Island and paddled back to shore.  We paddled back and forth several times until we were all hungry for lunch and it was time to head home.