Adventures with Grammy

I mentioned that Grammy and Annaliese were here for a visit.  We went to Apple Hill on Friday, and Old Sac on Saturday.

Paul took this group shot before we left for Apple Hill.  (Brianna and Eli were at school.)

There were cool metal sculptures at this farm.  The kids are behind a horse and in front of a stagecoach in this shot.

There was a fun Kids Town play area here where we hung out for a while.

Uh oh!  Katie is in jail!

Looks like Grammy has been a bad girl, too.

There was a cute little one room schoolhouse.

With an even cuter bus driver.  Katie loves buses.

Sam and I teeter tottered.

Which became a group activity, with Grammy and Hannah and Katie joining in.

When we got off the teeter totter, Sam decided it would make a good dance stage.

More playground fun.

At another farm, we looked at the beautiful flowers.

There were lots of bees, happily buzzing around.  Sam had to touch a couple.  Just because they were there.

I found myself wondering if I had sting relief in the first aid kit in the van or not, but surprisingly, he didn't get stung.

So you may have noticed that in our group picture when we left the house, I'm wearing a long sleeved orange shirt.  Well, it ended up being 90* out, so when we ran across a vendor at one of the craft fairs selling tie dye shirts for $15 bucks, I sprung for a cooler shirt.  In every sense of the word.  Far out man.

The hay ride at High Hill was a highlight for us.

Hannah having a pumpkin snuggle.

After about 5 farms, we were ready to head home.  We brought home apple donuts, apple pie, honey sticks, apple butter, pumpkin butter, chocolates, pumpkins, and more.  We even got a little start on Christmas shopping.

Saturday morning, Annaliese met up with a friend in town, and Grammy and I took the kids to Old Sacramento.

We used to come here a lot when the big kids were little kids.

I need to bring the younger ones back when we have time to do the train ride and the museums, but it's fun to just wander around and look in the shops, too.

This guy had tunes playing, and was making his marionette dance and play the piano.

Eli and Jack found the toy guns in one of the shops we went into.

I'm pretty sure I have pictures of Annaliese and Brianna on this same buffalo at around these ages (if not a little younger, even).

The police department uses mounted patrols, both in Old Sac and at the capitol building not far from here.  Sam called them "mounties" at one point, but Brianna was quick to correct him.  Mounties are Canadian, and they wear red uniforms.

We had to split into two tables for lunch, and I got to sit with the teenagers.  They're hilarious and fun, and while I may end up exhausted, I really do like to hang out with them.

After lunch, we wandered around some more, eventually ending our visit with a trip to one of the candy stores.

This is a tradition for us.  Each of the kids gets to pick out a candy before we leave.  When the older kids were little, it was a way to get them all back in the van, "Buckle up, and I'll pass out candy!"  This trip, though, I really noticed how much easier parenting has gotten, now that our youngest child is 6.  No one got lost.  No one cried.  No one broke anything.  No one hurt any of their siblings.  I didn't have to push a stroller, or carry a diaper bag, or pick up a dropped sippy cup.  It's a different season.  It's bittersweet, though.  I do miss having little ones around.

Old Sac, 2005

Because these guys?  Were a riot, back in the day.  Front row, Eli and Jack (yes, he's tied into the surrey with my sling); row 2, me and Zach; row 3, Annaliese and Samuel; row 4, Josiah and Brianna.
I told Jack and the girls we'd have to come back on a day when we could stay longer.  There's a history museum, an old country store, a railroad museum, a military museum, a Wells Fargo museum, and more that would be great additions to our study of California history this year.  Plus the train ride, of course.  Who knows, maybe Jack and I will even rent a little 4 person surrey and pedal the girls around to make some new memories.


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