Thanksgiving Weekend Trip

We took a 1-night family trip after Thanksgiving this year. It was part fun, part educational, and 100% quality family time. We started off with Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house.

The next morning we got up bright and early and drove to San Jose for a Sharks game!

The game was especially fun to watch at the end when it went into a shootout.

After the game we checked into our hotel. It was the tiniest suite I've ever seen, but it fit all 6 of us.

The kids wasted no time getting comfy.

We went out to dinner at Chili's. Afterwards we planned to go to Christmas in the Park in San Jose, but the kids were incredibly tired by this point. We did drive by it on the way back to the hotel and it looked like absolute chaos. I'm glad we skipped the crowds.

After a poor night of sleep we enjoyed a complimentary breakfast at our hotel before checking out.

We took the kids to Santa Clara University to show them where Mommy went to college!

It was so fun being back on campus and I really enjoyed showing them where I studied for 4 years.

Inside the church, which was on my list to show the kids since we studied CA missions last year.

The original wall of Mission Santa Clara.

So many memories from this campus! I'm not sure how exciting it was for the kids but I had fun.

We stopped by Monopoly in the Park and ran around the board for a while.

After lunch we took the kids to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum!

The artifacts were SO cool to look at up close because this is exactly what we've been studying this year for history.

Real human remains. Jenna may have been slightly scarred by this (and the accompanying video we watched).

Going inside the pyramid tomb was a neat experience.

I spy a pyramid....and Jenna!

After the museum we couldn't decide what to do before going home. I decided to look up local Christmas tree farms and found one in Dixon, right on the way home!

Silveyville Farm was so cute! Hot cocoa, roasted chestnuts, friendly employees in matching red plaid, and Christmas trees available to cut down for a very reasonable price!

The sun was setting so we got right to work looking for the perfect tree.

The kids said cutting down the tree was really hard work!

What a fun (freezing) way to end our little family trip! We came home with a 10-foot Christmas tree and many fun memories.

JENNA - NINE

Happy 9th Birthday Jenna Mae Nullmeyer!

My precious girl, you are such a sweet light in our family. You constantly surprise me with your mix of personality traits. You are gentle, but fierce on the soccer field. 

You are shy, but brave enough to sing on a big stage. 

You are calm but also incredibly animated!

You are peaceful, but willing to stand up to your brothers. 

You are easily pleased and content, but will make a big fuss if you are being mistreated. 

You are still obsessed with anything soft and squishy and cute. Top of your birthday and Christmas list are squishies, stuffed animals, and squishmallows. 

A lot of your free time is spent playing with Andrew. The two of you will get lost in imaginary play, making a "store", a "library", or a "hotel". I am then asked to come and be a guest or customer. You guys make a giant mess but I love seeing how creative you are!

You used to be my best eater, but you've gotten much pickier this year. You pretty much live on bread. Your favorite breakfast is a toasted Morning Round. You love pancakes, waffles, PB sandwiches, rolls, garlic bread, sourdough....pretty much anything bread-like. 

You really hate math, but you absolutely love reading, writing, and anything involving a story. You love being read to for school or just enjoyment, and your reading comprehension is excellent. Every night in bed you fly through an entire chapter book. You'll bring me your finished book at 10pm and then ask what you should read next. I adore all the cute little stories you write.... maybe you will be an author/illustrator someday?

Jenna, I definitely see a lot of similarities between you and your "Mama". (You are my only child who calls me that). You are shy just like I was as a child. You love being organized and making lists. You made a 4-page itinerary and shopping list for your birthday, and you've even got a menu planner all filled out.

Happy Birthday my amazing, cute, creative, innocent, thoughtful, crazy, patient, beautiful little girl. We all love you so much!

Lucas - ELEVEN

 Happy 11th Birthday Lucas Reid Nullmeyer!! 

Eleven seems like the first step towards being a pre-teen, and I can't believe we're already here! Some words to describe you right now are: organized, affectionate, easily frustrated, hard-working, goofy, fun-loving, focused, sensitive.

You are my most independent and organized child. You are perfectly content to spend time alone in your room listening to classic rock while working on a lego creation or organizing your things. Your room is always the cleanest out of the four of you!

This year you tried lacrosse for the very first time. You picked up the sport quickly and showed natural talent out on the field. However, we could never quite tell if you really loved the sport. Towards the end of the season it became more difficult to convince you to go to games and practices. But I'm proud of you for trying something new.

Flashback to baby Lucas! 

You have been loving the Humphrey the Hamster book series this past year. There are approximately 10 books and you went through and selected half to read on your own, and half for me to read out loud. Almost every night you come in my room and ask "Can we read Humphrey?" You then proceed to snuggle next to me and spread your limbs out for me to scratch. I try to say yes as much as possible because I know these moments won't last!

You are excellent at following instructions for building things, as well as creating things on your own. You will often steal your brother's Eureka Crates that are meant for ages 14+ and have no problem putting the projects together. 

You are a very logical thinker and I like the way you think things through. For example, you told me that on your birthday you want to begin with bacon for breakfast, open presents after lunch, and then have your cake after dinner. This way the fun is spread out as much as possible.

You did really well in 5th grade homeschool this year. You finished your math early and moved on to 6th grade math. Almost every time I asked a question about something we had read, you were the first to answer. You have requested to do marine biology for science next year just with me, and I'm looking forward to it!

Favorite Food: Lucas Chicken

Favorite Color: Orange

Favorite Drink: Lemonade

Favorite Activity: Legos

Favorite School Subject: Math

Favorite Friend: Isaiah

Lukey we all love you so much and hope you enjoy your birthday weekend!