Halloween Activities

 Devin keeps us all young at heart having fun for the holidays. We made apple and pumpkin-flavored foods. We received a gingerbread house to decorate for Halloween. We carved pumpkins. Always a fun time enjoying holiday activities.

Apple Hill Family Vacation

In the fall every other year for the past few years, we have taken a family trip.  To Washington, DC. To Boston and New York. We talked about planning a trip for this October, but during the summer when I was looking at options, it just seemed challenging not knowing what restrictions might be in place by the time our trip came around due to COVID. So I opted not to buy plane tickets anywhere and do something more local. Zach wanted to be out in nature in a cabin somewhere. Not sure what that would look like, until one day I was talking about the fall coming and Julian (near San Diego where people go apple picking). The kids started asking about Apple Hill where we went every fall when we lied in Elk Grove. We decided that would be our fall trip - back up north to visit Apple Hill.  It's way better and bigger than Julian, so that sounded like a lot of fun.

I found this awesome AirBnb about 25 minutes south of Apple Hill. It was just what Zach was hoping for - a simple cabin on a piece of open property with a river running through. We were excited for a few days away to relax, go down memory lane, and enjoy the fall season. And then at the last minute, Dad couldn't go with us. And there was rain in the forecast. I was getting nervous how this would all work out. I just had to remind myself that I have mostly big kids that are capable of hoping, and it was a low-key trip that whatever we could do, we would. And even if we just hung out in the cabin relaxing, it would be nice. So Sunday after church, we loaded up and headed north.

The traffic was terrible. Getting out of San Diego, getting through LA, driving north. It all took so much longer than we'd planned. And as we got up past northern California, the rain started. At one point I had to go to the bathroom and pulled off at a gas station. Bathroom closed. I tried 3 other places - all closed! Finally, finally, I was able to go. We headed off from the main freeway to the hill country. It was dark. It was pouring rain. At one point, I was driving over a bridge and got a message on my phone of flash flood warning, don't travel unless absolutely necessary.  Uhhhhh! Good grief. I kept on going hoping and praying we'd arrive safely.

Finally we got to the address. It was almost midnight. It was pouring rain and 38 degrees. I got out of the van to unlock the padlock at the gate entrance to the driveway. I could not get it to unlock.  Zach came out and tried to help me. We couldn't get it. I was freezing and couldn't even hold the umbrella still while Zach worked on it. I finally went back into the van to have a break. Jared said he'd go out and help. Just a couple minutes later, Jared had unlocked it, and the gate was opened. Yay! We drove down the driveway and then looking through the dark and pouring rain had to figure out which of the 3 small buildings were the main house and where the lock on the door was to get in the house. It was quite an experience, but I was right about my big boys being awesome helpers and figuring things out with me.

We got in and just carried in what we needed for that night since it was pouring rain. The cabin was freezing cold. No central heat but there were space heaters we turned on blasting. So happy to be there safely and comfortably, we all went to sleep.

Devin slept in with me in the king-sized bed since Dad didn't go with us. We woke up the next morning and looking out the window saw deer walking through. Yes! We were just where we wanted to be.

We got a fire going in the main room fireplace which would heat most of the house. We made some breakfast with some hot cocoa. And we did a little exploring of the property. It was so beautiful, so peaceful, the house was so cute.

One of the buildings was a little game room with ping pong, corn hole, darts. We had some fun playing in there while it rained a little more.

The boys were great about getting wood from the shed and keeping the fire going in the house at all times to keep us cozy and warm.

We talked about what we might want to see while in the area. Jared really wanted to go to downtown Sacramento to the train museum. As he said, "That museum is my childhood." It was so cute that he remembered it so much and wanted to go back there to visit it. So even though it was almost an hour drive, we decided to go for it.

I walked in that front room with the train and the big open space with the faux tunnel at one end and all the memories came flooding back. So many memories of my taking my little boys to the museum to play and explore. It really was their childhood. Zach and Branden had vague memories of it, but Jared and I really reminisced the many visits we'd had there when they were little. I sure missed my little boys in that moment!

After the museum, we took a little time to walk around Old Sac. 

On our way back to the cabin, we stopped off at the Sacramento Temple. This temple was dedicated while we lived in Elk Grove. Jesse and I helped with the open house. We attended the dedication which was one week before Zach was born. And that was our temple til we moved to San Diego. It was a sweet experience to go back.

The next day was the best weather day and the last full day there. So we spent it at Apple Hill. For years, every fall we would drive up and spend a day at Apple Hill. It is definitely a place I've missed going since we moved to San Diego. I loved going back after almost 10 years.

We visited High Hill Ranch. We have so many pictures of the boys at this pond. And we got apple donuts and apple fritters. And shopped for delicious foods like huckleberry syrup, almond coconut macaroon tea, honey sticks, apple cider, and new varieties of apples.

We drove around to some other farms. Denver Dan's was another favorite where we could pick apples, but it was closed already for the season. We had fun visiting farms and taking photos that we have of the boys when they were little.

We got big pumpkins for $5 each to take home and carve. We loved the fall colors, the crisp air. It felt like fall for sure.

When we finished there, we talked about going to the Marshall Gold Discovery State Park where gold was discovered. But part of the reason we got this cabin was to enjoy relaxing at the cabin. So we decided to go back and do just that.

We read by the fire. We hiked around the property. It was just so lovely. I didn't want to leave. I loved our little getaway. 

MSA Mom Retreat

When I was chair of our commonwealth school last year, my board and I planned a mom retreat for us to go connect, inspire each other, learn together, and talk homeschooling for a weekend. It was awesome, and something we hoped would become a tradition. I was excited when this year's board decided to plan a retreat again.

We headed up to Lake Arrowhead on Friday afternoon. We had a fun group of moms and some great weather, so we knew it would be a great weekened. We spent the weekend talking, sharing ideas, getting to know each other better, some training, and relaxing too.

We went out on the boat and toured the lake. We walked around the village for some shopping. We ate good food, took walks, and cuddled up in the cabin. It was a great weekend I hope the tradition continues!