Apple Tree

With Christmas approaching so very rapidly, I feel compelled to write a few more fall-related posts, as quickly and as heavily picture-laden as possible. 

We had our first North Carolina (and Zach's very first??) apple picking experience.  We drove to Skytop Orchard and made a morning of it, as the place also had playgrounds, farm animals, and tractor rides.  Also, the very best donuts ever.  Oh yeah, and we picked apples. 

Champion

What a beautiful flower

Looking serious about apple picking

Goats!

So excited about sheep

My boys and a sheep

Bamboo Forest

"Stay on Path" never applies to Caelum, apparently

You'd never know there was a baby with us

The first apple

Owen, very cautiously, picking apples

For comparison

Caelum excited about apples, which he should be since he is the only person (besides me) who will actually eat them

Taking a break

On the tractor ride holding the coveted donuts

It was quite a fun day.  Since I had more apples than Caelum and I could eat, I made some homemade apple sauce and gave some of the other apples away.  Here's hoping apple picking will be a new tradition!

Upward Over the Mountain

When Esmé was about five weeks old, before all the leaves had changed or fallen, one of my fellow homeschooling mamas organized a hike up Bearwallow Mountain.  There were three moms there, with twelve kids between us.  At first I wasn't sure I could handle my newborn and two big boys on a hike without Zach there, then the mom of six (age 9 and under) showed up and made me feel like a wuss.  It was a fun and beautiful hike.  Here are some pictures:

A long line of little hikers

Posing

Caelum scaling a boulder.

Owen made it up this rock on his own!

Most of the group

At the top of the mountain, there was a big open field.

And a great view

So thankful that Zach works hard, so we can do this on a Thursday!

Caelum pretending to be a mountain lion

Esmé's first hike

Owen ran ahead with the bigger kids, and waited for the rest of us at the end of the trail.  He's so old!

I Want to Ride My Bicycle

Owen is officially riding a bike now.  Queenie and Mantis had gotten Caelum a balance bike to practice on, and the boys shared it for a while.  Then, Owen's "You're a big brother again" present this summer was a big boy bike.  Right away, Zach took off the pedals because Owen wasn't quite tall enough to do them.  So it was pretty much a balance bike.  Once he got good at that (and just a bit taller), Zach put the pedals back on and Owen gave it a try.  He was able to pedal without a problem...slow and cautious as is his wont, but definitely balanced and capable.

The next day I took them to Fletcher Park, which has a nice big loop.  On the first lap, Caelum was speeding ahead of us while Owen carefully pedaled behind.  By the second lap, Caelum couldn't keep up with Owen.  It was amazing.  Those balance bikes really work!  We completely skipped the training wheel phase.  And there haven't been any injuries yet!

 Now Owen likes to go to the park as often as possible.  He loves to ride his bike, and Caelum loves to go off-roading on his.  Caelum looks like a madman speeding by.  Such a small little body going so fast.  It makes people at the park very nervous, but the little guy is perfectly in control.  He could probably handle a bike with pedals at this point.

 I feel like we're at a new stage of life.  It's crazy to me that Owen is old enough to be riding around the park and asking to go around the loop while Caelum and I play on the playground.  It makes me very happy that he enjoys it, since I love to bike ride too.  I foresee many family bike rides together!

Come on Over

We've had a lot of great family visits.  We've gotten to see Queenie and Mantis as well as Gramma and Grandpa quite a bit, thanks to Esmé's birth. But all that deserves a post of its own.  Instead, let us consider the siblings and Great Grandma...

Rachel came very shortly after Esmé was born and was a huge help.  She kept the big brothers entertained and the house very well stocked with food, all while being very pregnant.  Her precious boy, Dylan, was born about a month later, so I'm so glad she came to visit when she did!



 Hannah brought her boys up one day, and we had fun showing off Esmé and our new house.  All the boys were like a big pile of puppy dogs, wrestling and having a blast together.  Esmé kept her dainty self removed for the time being.  Probably a wise decision.  Since she was sleeping, we didn't get a picture of all the cousins together, but here's a a sweet one of the two youngest. 

 

Then we had Grandma Dean's visit.  It was lovely to have her in our house to meet Esmé and talk quilts. Also, she brought a killer good cake, of course. 

 And finally, Uncle Nolan joined us one Sabbath day.  He was a...natural...at holding the baby, and the boys loved having him around.  The highlight for them was probably when he rode in our van!  Oh, so special.

 

Thanks so much to all of our visitors!  We love being close to family!

Fall Things Considered

Superfluous Esme picture:

Know what I miss about blog posts?  Posting them.  So from here on out, at least for a little while, we're going for quantity, not necessarily quality. 

We've had a busy, wonderful fall so far, and I do want it to be chronicled, if only in short snippets of photos.  What better way to start than with leaf pile pictures?

 Jumping in leaf piles is quintessential fall time fun to me.  I have so many great memories of doing it as a kid, and now I can really understand all the work Jason and Joel put in to keep raking up a big enough pile so that we could jump from the tree fort into a pile of leaves without snapping femurs.

 Esme hangs tough outside with us as we rake and jump.  The tough part really comes into play when she's wearing her hunting cap. 

The boys are quite helpful with the yardwork when they choose to be.  Caelum enjoys raking and Owen can rake, weed, and actually help me drag a tarp full of leaves to the backyard. 

 I rake the front yard for the sake of a good outdoor activity with the boys.  Not pictured: Zach raking the entire front and backyard this past weekend.  It was a lot of leaves! The leaves are dropping fast now.  I better get this Fall series moving, as winter will be here before we know it!