A Pumpkin Farm and a Pebble Beach

Half Moon Bay, CA is known for its big Art & Pumpkin Festival every October and there are several pumpkin farms in and near Half Moon Bay. Last year we took the boys to the pumpkin festival there, and then to Bob's Vegetable Stand and Pumpkin Patch. This year we decided to skip the festival and head to the pumpkin farm earlier in the month. Half Moon Bay is also known for its beaches, so we decided to make a full day out of the trip and go to the beach after we picked out our pumpkins. 

Bob's is a very chill "pick 'em where they grow" pumpkin patch. No mazes or moon jumps at this farm. There are a few farm animals to see, and a big haystack and hay pit to climb up and jump into (unless you're like me... just looking at all that hay makes me double check that I've got my inhaler on me!). Here are some photos from our trip to the pumpkin farm.

We brought Henry's walker, but he preferred to ride in the wheelbarrow :)

We left with two huge pumpkins, 3 little orange ones and 3 little white ones. Calvin is adamant that we carve a dinosaur onto one of the big ones.

After we left Bob's, we headed farther south to Bean Hollow State Beach. This is a pebble beach which feels really neat on your bare feet and hands! The boys really liked playing in the pebbles, but at times it was hard to keep Henry from putting them in his mouth :/

We had packed a picnic from Trader Joe's. And PBJ's for the boys.

Bury Calvin in pebbles.

Bury Henry in pebbles.

Bury Daddy in pebbles!

The California coastline never disappoints. 

If you're headed to Half Moon Bay for pumpkins... let me suggest a trip to the beach while you're there! :)

Maternity Photos at Montara Beach

This month is turning out to be very busy for our family and I am so thankful that James is recovered enough to enjoy some nice family outings... and, yes, I'm also very happy that he has been well enough to pamper me a little since May happens to be the month for Mother's Day and my birthday, and we're getting close to my own personal labor day ;) I'm not going to hide it, I'm loving the attention.

Speaking of loving attention, I do love a family photo shoot! And I think pregnancy is a great excuse for one. We managed to take these photos at 32 weeks in my pregnancy - last year I was already 36 weeks along with Calvin and I went into labor that night!

I decided that I wanted to take beach photos again so we went a bit south to Montara Beach. My cousin Pamela came with us to help out with Calvin and to take some pictures for us. It was breezy and a bit chilly, as the beaches tend to be here in Northern California, but it wasn't too cold. It was also cloudy, but I'm still quite happy with how the photos turned out!

Thank you , thank you, thank you to James for being our family photographer, to Pam for being our photographer's assistant for the day, and to Calvin for being such a good sport the whole time!

May Flowers for Mother's Day

I hope all the wonderful mamas I am lucky enough to know had a great Mother's Day last week! I got to spend the day with my sweet husband and son enjoying gorgeous weather, blooming gardens, and the breezy beach.

We went to Filoli where the gardens were in full spring splendor and a special storybook-themed flower show was being held in the manor. The flower show featured arrangements crafted by floral artists and inspired by classic children's books like C.S. Lewis' Alice in Wonderland  and Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit. I am sorry to say that we didn't get any photos of the storybook flowers. It was a bit crowded, and we had Calvin in arms - plus James is still in a sling and hand brace. Those are my excuses for not having pictures of the flower show to share!

But as we walked through the gardens James took some nice photos of me and Calvin and I am very happy to have some pretty pictures of my seven-months-pregnant self to show off :) We also got some sweet pictures of James and Calvin.

31 Weeks

Calvin is touching a tiny caterpillar. Right after this picture was taken, he picked it up and threw it on the ground!
Guess he wasn't a fan!

Calvin is watching the musician onstage in this picnic area at Filoli. 

After touring the gardens and flower show, we weren't ready to call it a day yet so we drove through the mountains to the coast and went to a beach in Half Moon Bay.

We ended the day with dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, the Half Moon Bay Brewing Co. restaurant. I know a brewery seems like a strange choice for a pregnant mama on Mother's Day, but I really do like it there whether or not I get to drink the beer ;) I had this amazing bread pudding for dessert... sourdough soaked in coconut milk and drizzled with caramel... mmmm... what a treat! Happy Mother's Day to me!