Golden Gate Bridge

Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge has always been on my "bucket list" (even before I knew what those were). 

Saturday I finally had my opportunity. Grace's Girl Scout troop decided to cross the bridge for their end of year party. I volunteered to be a chaperone and Emma tagged along. 

I'm not sure it the experience lived up to my expectations but I am sure glad I did it. Especially with my two girls. 

The day was beautiful and we saw many sailboats, seagulls, people and even porpoises. 

This huge cargo ship sailed right underneath us. That was pretty cool. It was ginormous!

After crossing the bridge we walked down to Crissy Field and fed the seagulls and pigeons. 

While the girls were gone, Jason and the boys took are of shopping, visiting Grandpa's barn and swimming. They sent me this picture of their post swim Mohawks. 

Father-Daughter Dance

Earlier this month, Jason got to take the girls to the annual Girl Scouts Father-Daughter Dance.

Grace was so excited to go to her first dance! She loved her dress (of course she loves all dresses!) and would not let me take a picture of her without a pose.

Emma was a little disappointed she had to share Daddy with Grace, but she was happy to have a date night.

Daddy with his girls.

Cooper was very upset that everyone was getting their pictures taken without him. He wanted in on the action.

While Jason and the girls were at the dance, Cooper and I ate pizza and ice cream on the family room floor, picnic style. While we ate we built block towers and watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Cooper's favorite, he asks for it by name).

Pictures

I thought these were random pictures from November until I just realized it is actually December! Where does the time go?!?

This morning the family got to light the Advent candle at Church. We dressed the kids up in their Christmas finest.

Then we stopped at the new Tractor Supply and they got hats which made them look even cuter!

Yesterday the Girl Scouts hosted their annual Elves Workshop. This was the first year that Grace got to attend since she is now a Daisy. Both girls had fun working on crafts with their friends.

Last weekend the kids helped Jason pick persimmons off of the backyard tree. They spend about 15 minutes and picked over 10 gallons of fruit. The tree is still overloaded, but we just don't know what to do with the fruit...

Vertex Climbing Center

This afternoon Emma Jo's Girl Scout troop had a field trip to the Vertex Climbing Center. It was our first visit but most likely not our last. The girls had a great time climbing the walls and navigating the obstacle course. I'm hoping to convince Jason or Grampa to build an obstacle course at one of our houses for the kids.

I loved seeing how much Emma Jo was enjoying herself.

"F" Week

Each week at school Grace learns a new letter of the alphabet. Each day of the week they practice the letter, learn about things that start with the letter, eat foods that start with the letter and learn a song about the letter. This past week was "F" week.
On Wednesday the kids got to have "Fancy Nancy and Flamin' Hot Wheels" party. The girls dressed up like Fancy Nancy. The boys brought in hot wheels, wore t-shirts with cars, and had a toy car race during the day. Emma Jo was a fantastic big sister and spent a lot of time with Grace helping her to pick out the perfect outfit.

I thought that would be the highlight of the week, but it turns out a Fireman came to school for sharing on Friday. Grace was so excited to tell me about how to Stop, Drop and Roll. She had Jason check the smoke detector. She also told us about how firemen's coats have zipper (because they are faster than buttons) and how firemen crawl when they enter a burning building since the air is clearer down there. Grace told Grampa all about the visit and he let her borrow his very own firehat from his volunteer days. She brought the hat home so that she can bring it for sharing during "review" week.

Yesterday was Emma Jo's final day of selling Girl Scout cookies. Her troop was focused on gathering donations for the military this year. They set a goal to collect donations of 100 boxes to be sent overseas to the soldiers. With 1.5 hours left of sales they had already hit 106 boxes!

Father-Daughter Dance

Friday night was the annual Girl Scouts Father-Daughter Dance. Emma Jo was adorable and she and Jason made a cute couple. The evening started with Jason picking Emma up from school and taking her to a "real" salon to get her hair cut and styled. Then they got dressed, Jason gave her a corsage, I took pictures and they were off. At the dance they waited in line for pictures, waited in line for food, dance and played games. When it was time for dessert there was yet another line. They decided to leave the dance early and head to the Town Green for Baskin-Robbins.

Emma and Jason each seemed to have had a good time and Emma Jo looked so grown up!

GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Hey, you wanna buy some Girl Scout cookies?! We have sugar free chocolate chips, trefoils, do-si-dos, tagalongs, samoas, thin mints, and two new ones lemon chalet cremes and dulce de leche. They are $4.00 each.You can also give a donation to the Food Banks, the Red Cross, or the Military. If you want to buy any call me or post a comment. Just to tell you my goal is 230. :-)
EMMA JO

Spring Hill Jersey Cheese Farm & Peter Pumpkin Patch

I'm so disappointed I forgot my camera yesterday. I could have taken some great pictures to post on here... Patti took some pics for me. When she emails me I'll post them.

I was lucky enough to take Friday afternoon off of work and accompany Emma Jo on a Girl Scout Field Trip to the Spring Hill Jersey Cheese Farm & Peter Pumpkin Patch in Petaluma. There were 13 girls, 6 parents and 2 siblings. We drove out into the middle of nowhere, past the dump, past Two Rock, seemed like almost to the coast, and finally arrived at the farm. There we got to taste fresh cheese curds, milk a cow, take a hayride, dig for potatoes, pick pumpkins and have fresh ice cream. The girls also climbed a haystack pyramid and navigated a hay maze.

Emma Jo said her favorite part was picking pumpkins. She and Danielle walked clear across the patch almost as far as you could see to find the perfect jack-o-lantern shape. Then she had to carry it all the way back, but she didn't complain at all. She was so proud of her perfect pumpkin.

The girls had mixed reactions to milking Jessie, the cow. Some were hesitant to kneel underneath her and pull on the teats. Others thought it was a great adventure. One girl got in line a 2nd time she liked it so much. Another shrieked when she didn't have good aim and splashed her foot.

I liked digging for potatoes and eating the fresh ice cream. There was a patch with all different types of potatoes. We were given fork spades to dig and unearth our potatoes. They weren't very deep and it was like a winter Easter Egg hunt, only more dirty. After we worked up a sweat we got free little cups of ice cream. Friday's offerings were Pumpkin or Vanilla. I chose Vanilla and it was super smooth and creamy.

I would definitely consider going out there again with the whole family. I would highly recommend it as a field trip for young children.