Apple Picking! (Sort of)

I've been wanting to go apple picking ever since the weather turned fall-ish. I thought it would be fun for the kids, and I've also been craving apple pie. :)

Unfortunately, even though Washington is famous for apples, the closest apple picking place is almost two hours away! (Apparently all the apples are on the other side of the state.) My friend Aubrey and I decided it would be fun to take a little homeschool road trip and the kids were SO excited. Evan was counting down the days until apple picking. Even Ellie was excited. She kept asking about "app-o pick-o" (apple pickle), which was just too cute.

Yesterday, we loaded up and drove the two hours. When we got there, it was CLOSED! Apparently, they are only keeping hours on the weekends now.

We wandered around until we found a guy riding a tractor and told him we had driven all the way from Seattle. He was super nice and told us that we couldn't buy apples because there was no one there to help us, but that we could wander around the orchard and pick a few if we wanted to. That was good enough for us! We headed into the orchard and wandered around.

 



(This is the "smile" Ellie gives me when I point the camera at her.)





The kids had fun trying to find the perfect apple to pick.  It ended up being quite the challenge as there weren't that many left!







Ellie found a little apple that was just her size.

 

She was very proud of it, and very serious about the whole thing. In fact, when we got in the car to leave, she didn't have it. I tried to just give her another one, thinking she wouldn't notice, but she started BAWLING and said, "No! MY apple!" (Luckily I was able to find it for her!)



Of course, I made my kids pose for a few pictures, too. I'm glad I did, because I ended up with a few little gems.







This one is my absolute favorite and will probably end up on my wall somewhere. I just love these little munchkins. :)


We came back from the orchard and the kids had fun playing with some little tractors, a wagon, and the tire swing before we left.

















We were a bit sad not to come home with a bunch of apples, but it was still a fun trip! The kids loved it, which is all that matters. I bought a bunch of apples at the grocery store today so I can still make my apple pie. ;)

Field trip to the zoo!

I had some free tickets to the zoo this summer, but I decided to wait and use them after school started so it would be less crowded. We went last week and the weather was so gorgeous. It was a beautiful day to be at the zoo!


(We even had a clear view of Mt. Rainier!)







Evan loved touching these guys...


Asher was really nervous about it, but he eventually did it. Ellie just liked splashing in the water.




The tigers were feeling playful. This guy was playing with his string and he looked just like a giant house cat. After he got bored of his string, he and the other tiger started wrestling. It was fun to see them so active!




The walruses were a huge hit because they kept swimming so close to the glass. This guy was doing the same lap around the tank... over and over and over...






Ellie was totally mesmerized by them. She would have stayed just like this if I'd let her!


So much fun to spend a school day at the zoo!

Ellie at age two

Well, I got all caught up on my blogging only to fall behind again. I blame homeschool, which sucks up all of my free time (in a good way!). That, and the fact that I'm pregnant and exhausted!

I kept meaning to take some two year pictures of Ellie and kept putting it off. I finally took a cute series of pictures of her while we were on vacation this summer and have been meaning to post them ever since. So, here we are- three and a half months past her birthday- and I'm finally posting her "birthday pictures". Ha.



Little miss Ellie has been so much fun for me. I don't know if I'm finally getting the hang of the child-rearing thing or if her personality just clicks with mine. (Probably a little of both.) Either way, I have been enjoying each stage so much.



Around her first birthday, Ellie's vocabulary just exploded. She is definitely the most verbal of all my kids so far, which is helpful in figuring out what she wants and avoiding tantrums, but she also says the cutest things. A few of the things she says that I love:
*She calls Asher "Asha-bug"
*Shouted to the boys from under her bedroom door at the end of nap time: "Guys! I sweeping! Shush-a mouf!" (Translation: Guys, I'm sleeping! Shush your mouths!)
*Toothpaste = "Poo-pase"
*She calls any kind of hair style "piggies" (as in pig-tails).
*When strangers (grocery store, etc.) ask her "How are you?" she says, "I'm two!"
*"Mom, I wuf yoooo." (Mom, I love you.)



Ellie is still a long and skinny little thing. She weighs 22 lbs. right now, which is about the weight of an average 12 month old. I guess tall and skinny is the way to be for a girl, but it sure makes buying her pants a pain!



To say that Ellie has become a little tornado lately would be an understatement. Scribbling on walls and furniture with markers, playing in the toilet, emptying cabinets, garbage cans, and the fridge, covering herself in whatever slimy thing she can find (lotion, sunscreen, butter...), stripping down to her diaper, sneaking food out of the pantry... All of it is pretty normal for this age, but she sure keeps me on my toes!



I don't know if it's a gender thing or a personality thing, but Ellie LOVES imaginative play (my boys never did). She loves to make things in her play kitchen, pretend to be a puppy or a kitty, take care of her doll, and she makes her toys talk to each other (or to her) on a regular basis. She is also decidedly less rambunctious than her brothers were at the same age (thank goodness!).

Other things that Ellie loves right now:
*Reading books
*Playing with her brothers
*Scooters
*Hot coco
*Pizza
*Counting
*Curious George and Dora the Explorer
*Helping mommy make dinner

Bainbridge Island

Last Monday, my friend Aubrey and I decided to take our kids on a little homeschool field trip to visit the Children's Museum on Bainbridge Island. We had never been there before, so I thought it would be something fun for us to do, especially since we are still waiting for most of our homeschool curriculum to arrive (thanks to the frustratingly slow school district!).

We took a ferry over to the island in the morning and it was sooo foggy! It was slightly creepy to be sailing through the thick fog across the sound. It was also kind of creepy to watch Bainbridge island appear out of the fog as we approached.



After getting off the ferry, we we went to a park to eat some lunch and let the kids play, and then it was off to the museum. It's kind of a small place, but it's so cool! They have a little grocery store, post office, bank, doctor's office, construction site, etc. complete with fake money, groceries, letters, xrays, and anything else little hearts could possibly desire for playing pretend. There was also an upstairs section with tracks to send balls down and even a wall where you can make your own track for the balls. The kids had a blast! 











After the museum, we stopped for some yummy ice cream.



Then it was back onto the ferry for the ride home. The day turned out to be gorgeous, despite the earlier fog and the ferry ride home was beautiful.





This picture cracks me up with my hair flying all over the place and the kids posing.



I'm hoping to do several more outings before the weather gets bad, so hopefully I can keep up with the blog posts. After school starts is the perfect time to go everywhere, because it's not crowded anymore! :)