More Catching Up

So I find myself behind again in posting, so here's another catchup round.

We went to the Clayton Pumpkin Patch with friends from church at the beginning of October. It was about 100 degrees and we had a lot of fun. Olivia particularly liked the big pool full of lima beans. She also liked running through the hay maze with the big kids. She wasn't scared a bit.

Olivia was quite pleased with her new Kicks cereal container, the humidifier.

The first ride in our fancy 'new' car, a 2005 Honda Odyssey. Abigail was MOST excited that her window rolls down. That's really the only feature that she cared about. I am getting used to driving a bigger vehicle. Parking is not quite my speciality yet.

We visited Palm Desert with our friends down the street the Coffeys. They graciously invited us to stay at their lovely condo for a few days. Olivia stayed with Nani and Papa so we had some alone time with Abigail. She LOVED the pool, the waterslide, and got really comfortable in the water. She did the best swimming she has yet and we could hardly get her out of the water. It was a wonderful, relaxing time together.

On the way to the desert, we visited the Stockwells and the beach. Had a great time, even got to see an iridium flare from a satellite. Abigail told us last night as we were driving home in the dark that she saw another one, so we may have a budding astronomer.

Swimming with Aunt Ruth and Gail at Ms. Dean's pool.

Gail and Ben are engaged! We had a lovely party for them at the park. Well, actually the Wilsons provided the party and we just showed up. It was a bit chilly, so Abigail decided to hang out with the grandparents under the covers. It ended up a good choice since Papa got those three all hot chocolates from Starbucks. Jeremy asked Abigail for a sip and her response was well, you should have asked papa earlier for one.

Olivia in her rare forms. Insisted on wearing two pairs of Abigail's panties over her diaper, and making herself a complete mess at the park.

Olivia enjoying her donut, and the whole gang. We had a great weekend with the extended Schroeder family. Also really enjoyed meeting the Wilson clan.

Catching Up

We haven't posted in a while and so have some catching up to do. Thought I would just include some photos of what's been going on in our household.

Abigail and Zoe in their matching dresses and silly faces.

The Jelly Belly Factory tour was a big hit. Abigail (and Olivia too) was most impressed with the free jelly beans at the end, along with the special hats.

This is a fairly normal picture of what our mornings look like. Olivia loves chewing on her toothbrush and both girls are obsessed with pulling out every pair of my shoes and wearing them around the house. They are both actually pretty good at wearing heels. Yes, they can walk around in these already!

We had a really fun Saturday at Marine World with Nani, Papa, and Aunt Gail. I don't have that great pictures from the day, but both girls really liked the rides and the shows. There were plenty of rides they could go on, Abigail got to pet an elephant, and Jeremy/Gail/Nani were the wild roller coaster riders. Olivia spent a long time at one of the water features and got soaking wet. She also showed no fear on any of the rides and laughed louder the more she was spinning around. She's going to be quite adventuresome.

Soy Sauce

Abigail, after studying the soy sauce bottle, asked if it was made from ants. I chuckled, said no, and asked why she thought that. To her, the Asian character at the top looked like an ant and soy sauce is black, so why not. I thought that was humorous.

Contra Loma Reservoir

We spent the day at Contra Loma Reservoir, which has an awesome swimming area. It's a pool with sand and the shallow wading area is perfect for one years olds, and four year olds as well. Abigail and Olivia had a blast until it was time to go (when the eldest had a complete meltdown). What a fun day!

Camping

The Smiths braved their first family of four camping trip a few weeks ago at Samuel P. Taylor State Park. It's a beautiful place...think camping at the feet of a redwood grove, next to a stream. We camped with folks from our sunday school class, so there were plenty of kids to keep the girls busy. Abigail and Olivia were obsessed with keeping themselves in the dirt, and both had a ball. The adults even had fun too, except for about two hours one night when Olivia decided it was play time and not sleeping time. We spent Saturday at Drakes Bay. It was a non-typical northern CA beach day with the sun out for much of the time. The big kids had a blast finding sand crabs and strange looking worms, then flying kites and playing in the waves. Jeremy even brought his wet suit and braved the waves for a little while. What a special time together as a family!

Beads and Birthdays

A photo of Olivia, in the dress she wore to Aunt Ruth's wedding, all decked out in Abigail's beads. It reminded me of this photo of Abigail in Indian garb. She was a little over two years old at the time.

Also, celebrated Jeremy and my mom's birthday (which is on the same day) in Novato last month. It's been great to have the folks home, and we even get them for a whole year!

Olivia Likes the Beach

Well, actually she loves the beach and has little regard for how cold it might be. She justs heads straight into the waves and starts eating sand. We took this picture the end of July at Stinson Beach. A typical northern CA beach day...the adults are all in coats and the kids are the only ones brave enough to get into the water.