The Blomquist Family Stays Busy

Boy has it been busy.  Fun, family, food, vacation, holidays and amazing weather.  When you combine all these together, you get a lot of stories and photos....

So what exactly have we been up to?  As Elanor would say "Let's find out"...

Dan, Grandma Margaret, Aunt Janet and Elanor had a visit to the Train Museum in Sacramento.  

All four of us, and Grandma Margaret went to the Folsom Zoo for their "Wild Nights" holiday zoo experience.  The entire zoo is covered in Christmas lights, and you get to see the animals too!  Dan loved the wolf, I loved the bears, Grandma Margaret loved the peacock, Ella loved everything and Liddy loved the lights.

We celebrated Dan's new job with a trip to the Pelican Inn.  It was Liddy's first visit there (Ella's second).  So we celebrated with lunch on the patio and a little playtime on the grass.  The place has made a few renovations to the outdoor area, but otherwise looks the same.  It's so fun to visit special places such as this with the girls.  They don't quite get it yet, but soon will.

Then there was the Mickey Mouse Christmas House.  Our favorite Christmas light display.  Liddy was mesmerized by the bright lights, Ella loved all the Disney displays.  The newest one is the Toy Story window...perfect for this year because Ella loves Buzz!

And since the weather has been so nice, there have been outdoor activities too!  Several trips to the park...

And some hiking of Mt. Tam too!

But we had to keep up with those Christmas traditions, like decorating a gingerbread house...

And Dan loved taking Elanor on the ice for the first time (Ella loved it too!)

And then of course there was Christmas...

But there's more to come on that.

All in all, it was a busy, fun filled December (and we've done even more since this, but we'll save that for another post).

Happy New Year!

Caution, Kids at Play

I love this time of year. It's full of holidays, family, fun and traditions.  The season kicks of with a holiday that I have not really been a fan of in the past.  However, I have to admit that I am getting more into the spirit of Halloween, especially with our new neighborhood traditions and festivities.  Next year, maybe I'll even consider dressing up.

This year Elanor picked her own halloween costume - Rupunzel.  She had a dress, a wand, and a crown (the wand and crown didn't make it in this photo because we were all so excited to start trick-or-treating!)

And Lydia was a purple butterfly!

The four of us went to the first five houses together, but then Lydia and I headed back to hand out candy.  We had over 175 trick-or-treaters!  With that many trick-or-treaters, handing out candy is an event in itself.  You don't sit and watch a scary movie and answer the door when it rings (you would never be able to sit).  Instead, everyone sits on their front porches and hands it out.  It is like a giant block party, and so much fun.

Ella trick-or-treated for about two hours and then the girls put on their skeleton pajamas for bedtime...and slept all night long!

On Veteran's Day, I took the girls to the Discovery Museum.  Elanor has been several times before, but this was Liddy's first time there since she was old enough to play.  SO. MUCH. FUN.  Liddy was crawling all over everything!  She was standing and cruising and so adventurous.  It was really fun to see.

And of course Ella had fun as well.  Let me just say though, two kids, both excited, both *running* around, jumping and playing for three hours straight.  One Mommy.  I went to bed early that night...and slept all night long! ;)

But spending time with the family is the best part of any weekend.  Just the little things, like pictures in the yard...

Jumping at the playground...

Standing at the playground...

In general, just having a blast...

and spending time with each other...

creating memories, love and hugs.

Cutest Little Pumpkins In The Patch

The tradition continues...Nicasio pumpkin patch!  We went on Sunday, and I found the two cutest little pumpkins there...can you guess which ones they are?

As we remembered from last year, there was a lot to do - a hay maze, giant pumpkins, a hay ride, wheel barrows, ponies, a baby cow and some pigs just to name a few!  

Elanor loved the maze most and must have gone through at least 10 times.  

Lydia loved the bright orange color of the pumpkins, and watching the people all around her.  I was pretty sure she was thinking "mommy, why do people carve pumpkins?"  Good question Lydia, good question...

Elanor loved to run and jump off the pumpkins.  She even tried to hide behind some when we told her it was time to go home.  Ella, your too big for that now!  But seriously, when did she get so BIG?

On the way out, we found the perfect size wheelbarrow for Ella to push around.

It was fun, and a great tradition.  We will be back next year!

Cute As Can Be, And Now She's 3!

This past week Elanor turned 3!  I know, I can hardly believe it myself.  And I think she is excited as well.

We started the weekend off with a trip to the airport and a visit from Grandma Cindy.  Saturday was the big party, and Elanor had so much fun.  She invited all her friends and family to the house to help her celebrate.

We had lunch, opened gifts and ate cupcakes! YUMMY!

And Lydia had a blast showing off her new found crawling skills.

Here is a little bit about 3 year old Ella...

What's your favorite color: Pink!
What do you want to be when you grow up: Rapunzel
What's your favorite animal: zebra
What's your favorite book: Cinderella
What's your favorite movie: Rapunzel (Tangled)
What's your favorite song: Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Who is your best friend: Grandma

On Sunday, we took a very special trip to Fisherman's wharf to finish off the Birthday weekend.  To get to the wharf, we took the ferry and then the street car.  Once we were there we immediately went to see the fishies at the aquarium.  Lydia loved the jellyfish and Elanor loved the...SHARKS!

We also went on the carousel.

And spent some time visiting with the sea lions.

When Liddy heard the sea lions barking, she started laughing so loud!  It was adorable.

The weekend before Ella's birthday we took a special trip down to San Luis Obispo to visit our friend Corinne.  It was a long car ride there, but it was certainly worth it.  Uncle Chris took the girls on a bike ride to the park.

We all went to the beach.

Auntie Michelle made some delicious snacks in between all the play time.

And Auntie Nikki showed us the "Secret Garden" where Elanor and Corinne ran around in circles chasing each other.

We have had a fun filled few weeks and can't wait to go back to SLO to see baby Cody sometime in the Spring.  It was a great birthday!