Trip to Dixon and Gilroy Gardens

 Earlier in November the kids and I took an extended weekend trip to Dixon to visit with my parents before they left on their "Kid & Grandkid Tour" for 2014.  We had been trying to find a weekend to go up and have a memorial service for Luke (my parent's dog that died this fall) so we were able to fit it all in.  This is some of the crowd at the memorial service as well as the statue that my dad bought for his resting place in the backyard, next to the dog that we had growing up as well.  Each of the kids were able to put a flower near the statue and draw a picture to display at the memorial service so they were taking their jobs very seriously.

Luke's memorial statue

  Grandpa took us to play tennis, made us waffles and Nana was so good to feed us and visit when my friend Sarita came with her family for lunch one day.  We always feel so loved and spoiled when we go to visit!

Playing at the park after tennis

Going home from tennis

Making waffles with Grandpa

One Saturday, I took the older three kids to Gilroy Gardens and left Emma home with Jared (who was recovering from a cold) thanks to the generosity of our neighbor (who works there and gave us some free tickets).  It was pouring rain, but it was the only day the tickets could be used before expiring so we tried to make the most of it!  It took Jocelyn a little while to come around to the idea that she could have fun despite the rain, but it was wonderful that we weren't dealing with crowds and concessions everywhere!  We basically went on every ride that was open until we were all too cold and wet to continue. The kids were really brave to buddy up and wait with each other while I had to take turns riding with one kid at a time on the bigger rides.  We missed having Jared and Emma there but they were busy working on other projects at home.

The very wet boat ride

Girls on the carousel

Jonas driving the car

On the overhead tram

 

As I mentioned before, Jared has been busy working on a project that we are all very excited about.  Jared built these for our family as an early Christmas gift. Our previous situation included a single coat rack that was constantly overflowing and hideous and inadequate. In the words of Jared's friend "you better not let the coat rack see these, it will get a major complex!"  Not only did he mastermind the whole project, but he did it on a budget of about $100 or less. We have literally been dreaming of these for years. Presenting the Locker room!! AKA the office