Sky Top Apples

We went apple picking at Sky Top Orchard this past weekend! We had gone to a place last year that was nice, but I was really happy about this new place. They had a lot of additional activities for the kids to do because apple picking...well, it is kind of like shooting fish in a barrel. It doesn't really take a long time and then what? This place had cool cut outs:



Playground structures:



An apple house:



And a pumpkin house:



We got there at about 9:30 after it had rained. We let the kids play a bit and had a round of freshly made apple cider donuts - YUM! Then we headed out to pick:



Again, fish. Barrel.



Ok, the majority of these pictures were actually taken after a quick venture into the orchard. It started raining and we were trying to make it back to shelter before getting soaked.



Didn't quite work.



However, like most mountain storms, it passed quickly, and the kids were just as excited to head out again:



The kids were really interested in picking a golden apple...as in golden delicious. Here is a picture of Andy actually eating an apple. I know, I was shocked too. He only took a few bites before he decided he was done:



The kids also fed ducks and goats:



And they played hide and seek in a bamboo forest:



There was a sign that said to not hurt the bamboo. Seriously? This stuff is like kudzoo! Here is a picture of Christopher on a tractor. I realized while we were there that Christopher is the same age that James was when Andy was born. It make me throw up a little bit in my mouth.



We ended the day with a picnic lunch and might have had another round of apple cider donuts.



Happy Fall to All!

First day of school!! 2011! (finally)

The boys finally started preschool this past week. Things were a little different this year because Andy started at James's school. No, that isn't quite right. Andy does NOT like that. Andy wants to go to Andy's school and NOT James's school. From now on it will just be referred to as the "Day School".



Here they are out of the car and ready to run in. They are excited now, but again, it took awhile to get to this point. Andy has adjusted, but you never really know. Here they ran into James's buddy PC. So cute!



Once the kids were inside, THEN they decided they wanted to carry their backpacks and lunches. Nice.



James is in the kindergarten class. I was so excited that my 5 year old may not be the oldest in his class! However, there were no red shirts this year, so James is still the oldest in his class. I am super impressed with the projects he has been bringing home and I know this was the right decision to put him in this class. Had to crop all the names out of this picture. Also, it is a little bit blurry. I think my camera is on its last legs. Hint. Hint.



I have been lucky with Andy so far. He walks into his class without a second look. He immediately dumps things out and makes a mess. Oh well, not my problem!

FIVE

James is five now. What does that mean? He apparently can do all sorts of things, "now that I'm five". Watch Star Wars III, watch Harry Potter, roll out pizza dough without a stool, READ. Ok, still working on that one. But it is a big day and we celebrated it with, wait for it, I know you are on the edge of your seats, you will never guess this, a STAR WARS party! Oh wait, you figured that, well, ok.

We actually had Jedi Training for James's party. This party was pretty much a copy of John's 5 year old birthday party. James really wanted to have it at his Daddy's work, or as a backup, Mr. Tony's work, but we settled on the digging park. The first thing the younglings received at the party was a Jedi robe.



I made these. With my own two hands. And Ms Becky's and Ms Juliet's hands. And their sewing machines. I used this pattern. I had too. James kept wanting to wear a sweatshirt with a hood. They worked out pretty well, but they got too hot to keep them on eventually.

The first thing we did was lightsaber moves. I demonstrated some of the basic moves of attack and defense. The younglings followed my lead and thankfully, never hit each other.



Here is James finishing up the "slash/force" move with The Force.



Then we had a Jedi obstacle course. I had promoted then to Padawan at this point, but I don't think any one noticed. The highlight of the course was Mr. Mark acting like Sand People and shooting them with a spray bottle. The padawan deflected with lightsabers. Here is John on the way to the Sand People:



The last thing we did was a Jedi Scavenger Hunt. They were looking for Darth Vader. What they were looking for was this "Darth Vader Fiesta"



That is what James's kept calling it. I am personally against pinatas. It seems like they never work. I let them hack at it a bit with their lightsabers. Turns out, that was all it needed. Everyone had one turn and with one slash, Andy dealt the death blow:



I filled it with some pop-pops, Star Wars fruit snacks, and goldfish.

Finally we moved onto the birthday stuff. Lightsaber cupcakes!



Everyone loved them!





Andy's a juice head!



Just a few extra pictures. For James's actual birthday we went to Chuck E Cheese. That is actually a great little place. We had so much fun!

Family pictures

For a long time I have seen other family pictures with "real" backgrounds, the fake laughing picture, the candid shots and have wondered, why not me? Why, because I am lazy and cheap. Why go out of my way to do something when Olin Mills was able to do it with with the church for the same price and not as good? However, my sister came into town, my grandmother was here, and it was decided to get some of these family pictures.

Our photographer was Jacob Dean Photography. His wife works with my mom and they actually live down the street (hill) from us. It's a small town. I was excited, but a little frantic and we were trying to get everyone ready to meet at the botanical gardens at 9AM. We got there, everyone looked great, we started setting up, and Andy said..."NO!" What? Andy, come sit by me. "NO!"

Fortunately, Jacob also has small kids and although there are several pictures where Andy does look put out, there are some where you don't notice as much. Here was the first one:



We had just gotten there and no one had told Andy to do anything yet.

The fake laugh family picture. I real laugh just thinking about it.



Look at this guy, he could be a model, right?



Except for the spiky hair. And this was a professional hair cut. Ms Becky - we need you!

James also had a tendency of wanting to raise his arms in every picture. Do professional models do that?



Eventually everyone just went along:



Other brother pictures...ie dude get your hands OFF ME!



And running, another favorite:



And finally our family picture. You might see this on a Christmas card in the future. I may have already ordered them: