The Apple Orchard

  One of our friends passed along some field trips she was planning to take her daughter on throughout the school year.  Twenty five of us (mainly homeschoolers) joined her on this journey to the apple orchard.  It was about an hour drive west and it proved to be an unexpectedly cold, drizzly day.  But we shared clothes and blankets and survived with smiles on our faces.

most of the crew

we began with this gal who shared some info about apples and the orchard's processes

lining up to taste test a fresh apple

we toured the fridge where the apples are stored after picking

he peeled, cored and sliced this apple

the peel was taller than he was in one piece

the slicing was like a slinky

making apple dumplings (which we purchased....YUM!)

applesauce bars for a snack

We took a wagon ride up into the orchard and saw the trees...the strawberry patch, pumpkin and gourd patch, blackberry patch, and more.  Then, we journeyed to the play area, petting zoo area, and the nature trails.  By the time we left, it was definitely warmer.   And it had been a fun adventure!

Moving in

Here is the latest on the house...

  We have brought most of our stuff to our house now. But there is no where to put things away b/c the closets aren't done and the kitchen isn't done.  So...we have just stashed the boxes around the house until we're ready to put them away.

the re-finished hardwood

trim is up...ready for carpet

carpet is installed

the stairs aren't done yet...so we put blankets and such on the stairway so we can walk barefoot

Catching up

So, over the last few weeks, we have had an anything but "normal" life!  The last week of August found us camping a couple of nights...as we were close to being able to live in the house.  The carpet in the family room got installed the last Wednesday of August.  We got TV hooked up the next day (Thursday) and decided to camp on the family room floor that night. (We brought over our hide-a-bed couch and the boys slept on/in their sleeping bags.)
  Interesting things about our first few days...it was 100% humidity and pretty warm temps the first several days. But we still managed to feel comfy at night...in sleeping bags.  We had a toilet that mostly worked (a couple days later we were able to find plaster debris in the pipes which was causing the random back up of water in the toilet and the tub).  We showered at the high school or at Jack and Debbie's for the next 5 days until we had the water softener and a hot water heater working. 

  So, we slowly found ways to feel "settled" among the massive amount of mess around us.  Joe managed to take naps...wherever we could find a place to lay him down.  He found this spot on his own one day as Josh and I spent the afternoon digging in the mud for a pipe.

   In other news...
We didn't have clean water the first several days we were in the house.  So, we brushed our teeth on the front porch (spitting out into the yard...lots of fun for sure).

The boys enjoyed playing with toys...and built this microphone stand and guitar (to mimic Josh playing at church)...except they thought to add a box for people to throw money into.  

Jake and his critters...

One afternoon we headed out to search for worms to put in a jar.  We were also trying to attract ants with some honey on some crackers.  So, Jake is watching patiently for ants. 

 Joe is pointing out the "gunk" we found on the tree bark.   You can imagine he had fun taking a stick and playing with that.

 First cantaloupe from the garden.

We have praying mantis's all over the place.  

Here is the toad/frog we found in the garage...

 The boys pretty much tortured him as they tried to "help" him be near water that had collected in the tarp.

We finally found worms (after digging several holes around the yard)

The boys and Daisy!