Hiking at Falls of Lana

I’ve been wanting for awhile to check out some of the National Parks that Vermont is famous for. Saturday proved to be a perfect fall day and we took advantage of that to go on a hike as a family. Leah has actually been asking about going hiking, too, and was very excited, although none of the kids have really ever been on that type of hike. It was a fairly easy hike, although the rocks were steep in some places. It was only about 20 minutes to the falls overlook, though we hiked another 20 minutes or so to a picnic area for a snack, and then headed back for a total of about an hour and a half. Much of it was wooded, following a running stream, and had a wide path for walking. The kids did great. Andrew only complained once or twice. Brett carried Abigail in our backpack carrier (for which she’s probably slightly too big, but we weren’t about to carry her the whole trip!), and she only whined the last few minutes of the hike after we’d taken her out for the 2nd time and she had to get back in again! We want to make this a regular family fun activity!

 

  

 

 

The overlook was so pretty, overlooking a lake. The Falls were not easy to actually take a picture of, but we enjoyed just scrambling around on the rocks for a few minutes & looking out at the pretty fall colors. Such a beautiful warm day!

 

Apple Pickin’ Time

One of the main reasons I was so looking forward to fall in Vermont was for apple season! I’ve never picked apples before, and now we live only about 15 minutes from an apple orchard. It’s a huge deal here, and I’ve been researching all sorts of apple recipes lately. Friday we went to the orchard as a family and the kids loved it! We picked three different kinds. It was a crisp fall morning, perfect for being outside! At first they were all taking bites out of every apple they picked. Once we put a stop to that, Abigail found one she liked and worked on that almost the whole time. She finished almost the whole apple. Leah says apples are her favorite fruit and has asked for one for snack almost every day this week. Score! This will definitely become a new Cody family tradition.

 

 

 

 

 

Today we did an apple taste test to see which we like best. I prefer Gala. Everyone else kind of liked the Honey Crisp the best. Right now there’s applesauce cooking in my crockpot making the whole house smell amazing. Later, Leah is going to help me make an apple pie. Fall is definately in the air!

 

Fall Festival

Last Saturday, our church held it’s annual Fall Festival—a day to end the summer and welcome in a cooler season with games, food & fun. It was a cold and rainy day, so the turn-out was not great, but we did manage to get in a few minutes of fun before it got too wet.

There was mini golf set up with one hole for each of the five seasons in Vermont (mud season comes after winter, in case you were wondering). Leah & Andrew may have been the only ones to play, which is a shame because it was so cute!

Both kids got their faces painted, Leah a butterfly and Andrew a pirate (although Andrew did NOT like the attention he received from his, which was really cute, and wanted it washed off immediately).

 

The guys participated in a log sawing contest. Brett actually won with a time of 17 seconds!

There were tons of chickens grilled!

And there was a bounce castle for kids young & old. Brett was exhausted from going down this thing with his buddies. We actually took the kids back to bounce on it again the next day after it dried out. That’s when I got on it with them, and Abigail got a turn. Her face does not look like she enjoyed it, but she kept wanting to go again and again.

     

Leah’s New Dance Class

 

The second thing that makes Thursdays so busy is Leah’s dance class. I like getting everything done on the same day but it does make for a long Thursday! We’re home from school around 2 and then turn around to go back 20 minutes at 4:45 to go to dance. It was a really good class, though—about 6 or 7 girls, mostly 6 and 7 year olds, and most who have had some dance experience. It will challenge her and continue to give her a creative outlet. She really loves being girly and said she loved the class. So this week we made a whole day out of it and went to our favorite library after school, then got ice cream as a special first day treat. Some days we’ll go home, some days we’ll kill time in town. They all did so well this week.

Parents are allowed to sit and watch her class from a little lobby off to the side, which I want to do if there’s a week I don’t have Abigail & Andrew with me. They looked like they were having a lot of fun.

First Day of CC 2014

Thursday is our busy day for the week, where we travel an hour to get to the church where our Classical Conversations group is held. Honestly, for what these kids learn and for the fun they have, it’s worth the drive. It will become our one day to get out of the house, run errands, and be around other people. And Leah & Andrew really loved it this past week. (Technically, we’ve been doing school at home for about 8 weeks now, but since we kind of school year-round, I will consider the first day of CC as the first day of school.)

Leah’s like an old pro at this now, and most of the kids in her class also have a year of CC behind them, so they seemed a little more comfortable, a little less shy around each other. Leah already met one girl in her class this summer—she lives close by so her mom and I made contact and set up a playdate. Leah & Fiona are now best buds! There are some other little girls in her class, as well, but she didn’t really take much time to talk to them yet!

This week they did a science experiment about blinking. The science will focus on the human body this first part of the year.

Andrew is still so young (in fact he’s the youngest in his class, but they are required to start at 4 if they are going to be on campus—he can’t be in the nursery) and I was a little concerned about how he’d do, but he joined right in, participated and was not shy. He did so well on his presentation (which was about his favorite stuffed animal, Scout), answered questions when he had to, and even did what little paper-work they had.

I love how he sticks his tongue out when he’s concentrating on anything. This boy can already write his own name! He picks up on things way quicker than I give him credit for sometimes.

They are also learning U.S. geography this year, memorizing the states & capitals. Andrew’s class used chocolate chips to locate the states.

   

After they have lunch together in their classrooms, they go outside for recess before we go home. This was of course everyone’s favorite part. They have a little play area but mostly the kids just run around and be together. And if it has been raining and you are less than 2 years old, you play in mud puddles. Abigail squealed with glee at this! I don’t have any pictures of Abi in her class because she screamed when I dropped her off. I was told she was fine within minutes, just wandering around sucking her fingers, but if I would have gone back in I’m sure she would not have let me leave again!