Ciderfest, year 2

Last year, in an effort to keep busy on the weekends, I looked for events in the surrounding area and discovered a great resource in KCParent.com. The site lists all the festivals and other activities for children of all ages in the KC area. One of the events I discovered was a little festival in Louisburg, where they have a cidermill. Two weekends every autumn is the ciderfestival. Last year, C and I visited the vendors, she rode a pony, and we checked out the cider mill. This year, we did the same. However, last year, she tried the inflatable bounce-house, freaked out and the man gave us our money back. This year, she has embraced the inflatables and wants to bounce and climb wherever we find one. She was even quite adventurous and went through the obstacle-inflatable not once, but four times! Her agility and daring astound me some days.

Apple Orchard and Pie

'Tis the season...for apples! C's preschool class went on their first field trip last week to the Alldredge Apple Orchard near Platte City. What an experience! C spent the week before the trip telling me repeatedly that she was going to pick apples at the apple orchard. By the time the morning of the trip came around, I thought she was going to burst. The burstiness just got worse when we arrived, as we were in the last group to pick apples. The whole thing was very well organized. At first, all the children were together, and they got to help feed the chickens. This was a one-shot opportunity, so all the children were together for this part. They very well didn't want 50 kids and their parents tromping through the same bunch of trees all at the same time, so the children were divided into stations. At one station, we rode on a hayrack and got a survey of the orchard property. At the next, the children listened to a story about how bees help make apples. After the bees, we got to see and feed some baby billy goats, pet some young barn kittens, and then see a pony. Finally, after every child asked "when are we going to pick apples?" around 100 times (pardon my hyperbole), we got our bags and went into the orchard to pick some quite lovely Braeburn apples. I learned something new too--the only part of a Braeburn apple to turn red is the part that gets lots of sun. Otherwise, they're green. Now, the really amusing part. I got pictures of the hay ride, the animal events and even C listening to the bee story and looking at the bees. However, I did not get photographs of the picking of the apples. We were having too much fun doing the picking, that I forgot to take my camera back out of my pocket! So, here are pictures of C making our apple pie the next day. That was her very specific request, that we make a pie with the apples. C making stars with handfuls of hay on the hayrack ride. C feeding baby billygoats very patiently.C waiting to (finally) pick apples!C with her bag of apples, straight from the tree. C putting the apple slices into the mixing bowl and trying a few slices along the way. We discovered that there is something especially tasty about apples right off the tree.
Then she mixed the apples with the seasonings for the pie. It took some doing, but I did manage to convince her not to munch on the now-seasoned apples. Now, it's ready to go into the oven, and she's so proud of it! A few hours later, we all got some tasty bites of deliciousness

First Day of Preschool

Well, dear readers, I've finally reached September with my "catch up" posts. Earlier this month, C made me remember how fast time "flies." She already loves preschool, and her teacher. In the morning, we drop Daddy off at his school, and then we drive to C's. She sings her preschool song, "Yippee yippee yay, I'm going to preschool today!" When we arrive, it's all I can do to make her walk to the building, not run. Here she is on Day 1 of preschool, keeping up our family tradition of taking pictures on the first day of school each year. She was so excited.

Feeling Princessey

C loves playgrounds, so that was our evening activity most nights during the summer. I was really glad that she loves playgrounds, because one night, she played with another girl who looked to be her age, and I introduced myself to the mommy. I made a new friend! Cindy and I have a lot in common, and are having a really good time just 'hanging out," as well as doing things with the girls. Turns out, Cindy scrapbooks too! Over the summer, I went to Archiver's in Kansas City on Friday nights for their ScrapMania event (dinner and scrappin!) so that I could get some social scrapbooking done. After several weeks of trying to find someone to go with me to Archiver's so I wouldn't have to drive alone, F suggested a new plan: have someone over here to scrapbook and he'd make dinner for us. It's a time-saver, gas-saver, and I still get my social scrapping done! Sounds like a winner to me. Well, Cindy was our first s&s (scrap and sup :)) guest. F made steaks for dinner, and cleaned up, and when we were pretty much scrapped out and just visiting, F brought us tea. Cindy's line summed up how I felt about my husband just then: "Wow, you make me feel just like a princess." Granted, with Cindy's hint of a Southern accent, it sounds even more charming. However, F certainly is making me feel like a princess these days. I love having him home.

A moment in time...

About a month ago I left C watching one of her shows and came back a while later. During her watching time, she has a tendency to get up and play while the show runs. I walked into the room to find her dressed up, sitting on the couch with her treasures piled up next to her. I just had to take the picture.

Catching up: Another Favorite

All of last year, we intended (with our friends the Cunninghams) to visit Science City in Union Station. It's one of the few outings that we failed to follow through on. However, C and I were able to forge some new memories with our new friends, the Registers, there! First off, I was impressed by how much there really was for small children to do. I had expected the facility to cater moreso to school-age children as opposed to my little preschooler. I was wrong. The first thing the girls discovered was a huge tree, with stairs so they could "climb". Then they found the music park. Amazing. They ran on the piano, checked out light-reactive chimes, banged on a giant xylophone, played trashcan drums, and activated wind chimes. I think they spent the longest time experimenting with sound out of everything they found. They played with water flow, were mystified by the illusions, monkeyed around in the indoor playground and explored tons more! I don't think they stopped moving during the 2 hours we spent there. In fact, if they hadn't gotten hungry, I don't know that our visit would have been that short! This is definitely going on our list of "repeaters", the outings we'll go on again, and again.

Eastward bound

Our big trip for the summer of 2009 was back East to see Nana and Papa Wong. F, understandably, was a little nostalgic for New Jersey and the sights from his growing-up years. We got in some shopping, of course, as a trip with F is never without a trip to the local mall. Our best outings, however were to the New Jersey Children's museum and the Imagine That! children's museum in nearby (30-45 minute drives) townships. The NJ Children's museum is truly a hidden treasure. We spent the entire day in the facility, with a break to eat lunch. The museum is in a warehouse sized building and while open-concept with very smooth flow from section to section, is distinctly divided into a multitude of thematic learning areas. I was awed by the sheer number of things C got to experience and play at during our visit. She dressed up as a princess in the castle sector, a cowboy in the old west, went fishing in the oceanic, dug for dinosaur bones, flew a heliocoptor, interacted with virtual reality, took care of a house and babies, did a little ballet, went grocery shopping, made music, delivered mail, and served at her own little restaraunt! There was more, but I'm at a loss to remember just now. Imagine That! had just about as many exploration options, all divided by half-walls, so parents could look out over the whole room and observe whatever their children were involved in. That, I really liked.

Returning home to Nana's house after our outings, we had just as good a time just hanging out at home. F was impressed by all the changes Nana and Papa have made to his childhood home, improvements in flow as well as appearance. F's term, "updating" is appropriate, as the house seems much more contemporary to me. We brought along several of C's animal friends and ponies, so she entertained her Nana with them, making use of the ample space for running and dancing.

The other worst part of the Army life

Okay, so deployments and the separation that results is the worst part of being an Army family. The second worst part is PCS season ("Permanent" Change of Station for non-Army readers). What that really means is saying "goodbye" (most likely "see you later") to friends as one or both move away from the post where the friendship has perhaps formed... or rooted...or grown, and likely flourished. The grownups among us know what's going on, and why, but often the children among us do not. If we, the adults don't like the moving-away, I suppose we should understand even moreso why the children don't. This is the first round of PCSing that C has really understood that her friends are leaving. This summer two of her best friends departed as their dads took on new assignments. She was quite the weepy one for several days after, until our trip to see the grandparents distracted her for a while. After we returned home, several weeks went by that required Mommy and Daddy to act as playmates, as we waited for new children to move in so we could meet them. Even now, months later, C mourns the absence of her two good friends, even though she's made some new ones. This situation then, is the proof positive that one can make new friends, but old ones are never replaced. Thank you to Kate and Erin's mommies for helping me keep the girls in touch with one another.

Catching up: Daddy's home!

Due to the security-need for discretion, I refrained from mentioning in my posts from June 08 to June 09 that F was deployed to Iraq during that time. C missed Daddy very much, but we prepared well by having F record himself reading some of her favorite books on DVD, which she didn't watch as much as we expected, but did enjoy when she asked for them. We kept in touch via cards, packages (containing photos and her crafts) letters, phone calls and emails as well as Skype, using the video-call feature. C loved watching Daddy on the computer--so much so that she would sometimes ask to talk to Daddy on the computer at random times, times when he certainly wasn't available to call. We prayed for Daddy every night and she slept with her Daddy-doll from Operation Giveahug. She also made me kiss it goodnight. In May, we prepared a countdown chain in order to help me explain that Daddy was coming home and prepare her for the changes in our household. She jumped up and down with excitement when I would tell her that it was time to cut the link each morning. The day Daddy returned, the welcome-home was at 0200 (yes, in the morning) and I had prepared to get C into jammies and asleep at the hotel well before time to get him, so that I could take her sleeping. That did not work. She stayed awake the whole evening and up to the ceremony, even insisting on wearing a dress for Daddy, not the aforementioned jammies. She hugged her daddy, and once she was in the car with him, only then did she fall asleep. Such determination. We spent a few days in a hotel while F turned in all his gear and had a few final meetings, finally bringing him home 4 days later. Here they are, enjoying playing at home as our summer vacation really started.

Catching up: A favorite place in KC

I've been really quite lazy over the summer about chronicling our adventures. However, now that autumn is here and we're starting our fall outings, I suppose it's time to go over some of the major events from our summer. One of the first things people told me about when we moved to Kansas was the Deanna Rose Children's Farm. We managed to get there a few times last fall, and C enjoyed the animals and activities then, but all she could really do was feed the goats, look at the animals in their pens and climb on a limited amount of the playground equipment. This last spring and summer we made it twice with our friends and the experience was so much more enjoyable. While we still fed the goats and looked at animals in their pens, C could play on more equipment, really ride the pedal tractors and was old enough to ride the ponies. She was also a bit braver about the process of feeding the baby goats and petting them. Still wonderful, these experiences brought about many more smiles than on our previous excursion. If you're ever traveling to the KC area between 1 April and 1 November with a young child, make sure you put the Deanna Rose Children's Farm on your agenda. Admission is free; you pay for the feed for feeding goats and sheep, the pony rides and for treats at the snack bar, of course.