Fire House Pictures

Here's the pictures from the fire station Tuesday night.

firefighting and apples

We took Conrad to a Fire Station openhouse Tuesday night. I didn't have a camera, but hope to get some pictures from my friend's camera today or tomorrow. The next morning this was Conrad...

Then on Wednesday it was the Quarry Hill Nature class. Once a month we go for an hour to listen to a story, do a small project, and go for a short hike. Conrad always looks forward to going to Quarry Hill, especially when there is class, and ESPECIALLY this time because two of his friends would be joining us. Each class has a theme, this month it was apples.

Here's Conrad sitting with Stella and Roman on the storytime rug.

We actually had two projects this time - first the kids were painting or making prints with an apple on a stick. Then we made apple juice using an old press. Not with the painting apples though! I guess a local orchard donates apples to Quarry Hill for these classes so there were plenty of apples.




After painting and making juice (and the juice was declared "Mmmm...delicious" by Conrad), it was time to go hiking. The group carried the apple scraps out to the apple tree near the pond for deer, racoons, skunks to snack on.

When class is over, the kids get to feed these fish. It's usually pretty uneventful, but fun to watch the fish snatch up the little worm things that are dropped in. This particular day one little boy got a bit of a surprise. After CW and Stella moved away, he was standing on the step where they are for the picture and this fish came after his morsel with such speed that a large amout of water sloshed over the edge. The kid was SOAKED. Really, soaked. Hair looked like he had stepped out of a shower. Jacket was dripping. Puddle on the floor. His mom took off her scarf in an attempt to dry him off. Comical.

We finished our morning watching birds. I think Conrad would love some really nice binoculars for Christmas! ;-)

Apple Butter, by the gallons

Saturday morning Conrad and I left Tim at home splitting wood in the rain to do some work of another kind. A friend was cooking down about 5 bushels of apples over an open fire to make apple butter and what better way to spend a cold, rainy morning? Sure beats splitting wood in the rain!


Conrad was an apple peeler extraordinaire (like that knife right next to his station?). And when he tired of that job, he would run down to the fire pit
and check on the apples already in the cauldron.

Mmmm....Chili

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Fall has arrived. Overnight, about a week ago.

And here's my little chef-in-training still in his pajamas helping me put together a big ol pot of chili, using garden goodies of course! His job was adding ingredients to the pot and dumping the beans in a tote to get rinsed. The only ingredient he wasn't going near was those darn onions. Poor kid - just being in the yurt with me while I chopped them caused him pain. He was innocently playing toys on the floor when he cried out "My eyes hurt mommy!!" I had to send him outside in the rain to relieve the stinging.

Playdate on the Prairie

These pictures are from just two weeks ago, big change of weather since then! Tim put up a playset over the summer that Roman's family gave us so between that, the raspberry bushes, and Conrad's other outdoor toys there was plenty to entertain the group. We made the morning complete by making Annie's mac n cheese for lunch before sending everyone home for naps!