A is for Apple

In October, I wanted to teach a preschool co-op class in an apple orchard. The closest pick your own orchard was over an hour away, so only Lily and her Mom (and baby brother) could make it. I knew Lily was going to love this lesson because she loves being in my mini-van. Lucky for her, I was teaching part of the lesson in the back of my van: Zachary and Lily listened to an apple story, stamped the letter "a" on apple wheels, and learned how an apple tree grows from a seed. Then it was time to read "The Little Red House." A cute little story about a boy who is sent on a mission by his mother to find a "little red house with no windows, no doors, a chimney on top, and a star inside." Along the way he asks several people if they know where to find this house. Here are the people we asked:

We head deeper into the orchard to find that little house...

And it doesn't take long before they are leading the way...

WE FOUND IT:

An apple is the what we've been searching for!

But how do we know if there is a star inside?

Good thing I brought a knife to cut it in 1/2 (horizontally).

Zachary shows us the star...

and then tries a bite.

Time to pick more apples!

This orchard had a ladder for the kids to climb up the trees.

Kathy & Colin

"Here we go round the apple tree."

A is for Apple and ADORABLE!!!

Field Trip # 26 Goodnight Gorillas

The Western Lowland Gorillas at the National Zoo in D.C. provided us with yet another perfect field trip close to home! I printed off a fact sheet about each of the gorillas at the zoo, so we were able to identify each one and learn about their personalities.

He was able to see the large "silver back" just like in our book.

Inside, we found a gorilla skull.

And enjoyed our walk through the rain forest. We used this same rain forest for our field trip about the Amazon from book #6.

Video of large Amazonian fish:

Video of an interactive cheetah's trail.

Video of Elephant's _ _ _ _!

Or as Zachary says: "Ed-a-pant's Poop"

The most BEAUTIFUL time of the year

If I had to pick one thing that I DO like about living in Virginia, it would be the beautiful colors of fall. It always has been my favorite time of year, but around here it is so much more vibrant than anything I ever saw in the Midwest. I just always forget that the peak comes a lot later than it does in Iowa. That is, except for up in the mountains of the Shenandoah Valley. We missed the peak time this year and ended up seeing a lot of brown on the road while we were driving Skyline Drive. The kids needed to get out of the car, so we were looking for a hike through the forest, when we came upon "Big Meadow." Immediately, Mikie said, "I want to run in that. Look at all the trails. I want to run on those paths." Realizing that we probably weren't going to find a trail with "color" I resigned to the idea that this may be our "autumn memory" this year, and we all unloaded out of the car. If only I had known just how much we would all end up enjoying ourselves in this vast field of tall grass and milkweed pods!

Blowing the milk weed seeds brought a lot of laughter and fun to our day.

Watching my boys chase each other in the paths and playing tag, was like watching two fawns frolic...

a picture I want in my memory forever!

At the end of the meadow was a small forest where we forged our own path through seeding weeds and climbed fallen trees.

Video:

Videos:

That evening we stayed in New Market and ate at the Johnny Appleseed Restaurant. Michael had told me about this unique eatery for several years and now I can finally say that I have eaten there. This turned out to be an impromptu field trip because Mikie was learning about Johnny Appleseed in kindergarten.

Video:

In the morning, we headed to the battlefield of New Market and found 3 beautiful trees outside the entrance where we made more "autumn memories" by having a leaf fight.

Video:

Later that day, we headed back to Skyline Drive, determined to find a hike through the forest. We decided to try an easy hike to Rose Falls. Upon pulling into the parking lot, I didn't have much hope of this one having any color either since all the trees around us were mostly brown or bare. But oh how I was wrong.........

We turned the corner, walked down the path, and found my idea of paradise!!!!!!

The boys were holding hands walking backwards which gave me a great opportunity to snap these pictures. (Note to self: if you want good walking pictures just have them walk backwards! Then your subjects are coming toward you!)

video:

Along our walk, we found an apple tree which we had to climb and pick a few for a little snack.

We reach the falls...

and throw rocks in the water....

and have a picnic.

Then it was time to walk back. We had to get a little creative to keep them walking toward the goal and ended up playing "follow the line drawn by a stick." Zach held on as long as he could and then crashed only minutes from the car during his piggyback ride....

On our drive out of the forest, Mikie finds the highest point on the trail.

Our weekend filled with hidden treasures and beautiful memories has come to an end.

RIP C.A.

Back in the spring of 2004, I had just said good-bye to my first pet of 18 years. An all white cat who loved very few people but most of all, loved me more than anyone else. When my Christmas passed away, I was alone in Hawaii as Michael was gone on deployment. I cried for weeks. She had been a huge part of my life and now, I was coming home every night to an empty house (well, except for the geckos, flying termites, cockroaches, and wolf spiders which frequented our home nestled into the rain forest of Oahu).

Shortly after this sad day, I started parking in a different parking lot at Christian Academy where I worked as a kindergarten teacher. Almost immediately, I took notice of a huge orange cat which was hanging out around the dumpster on this side of the school. Every morning, I would see him lying on the cement among the old wooden planks and wondered if he belonged to anyone or if he was even tame. Still feeling the loss of my best feline friend, I decided one morning to approach this big orange cat. I was pleasantly surprised that he not only allowed me to pet him, but began to purr and rub against me as well. I could tell that he had been neutered, and therefore concluded that he was not a stray, but did indeed belong to someone either now, or at one point in time. I needed to get into my classroom, so I gave the huge guy one last pet and said I'd be back after school. I looked down at my hand which was a dark shade of gray, and realized that although he was pretty soft, he was extremely dirty. I found the school's custodian and asked if he had noticed the cat out there. He told me he'd been there all year long and was probably abandoned when someone moved from the apartments next door. While it is pretty hard to feel sorry for an abandoned cat who lives on the streets of paradise, where it's always beautiful and he has the freedom to do as he pleases, I just couldn't stop thinking about how he doesn't have anyone to love him anymore. So, each morning and most afternoons, I would stop and say hello to the friendly guy who I nicknamed C.A. (using the initials of my school). Sometimes, he would even follow me to my car, and I'd have to sit and wait for him to leave before I pulled away. When Michael came home for a short few weeks, I took him to the school to meet C.A. He agreed that he was a really nice cat.

The end of the school year was approaching and along with that came NAVY orders to leave Hawaii. I just couldn't stop thinking about how this poor cat would have no one to pet it after I left. After convincing my husband, who was on deployment again, I decided to bring C.A. home for a trial run. So many questions entered my mind on the day I decided to bring him home: Has he ever been inside before? Would he climb the curtains in an attempt to escape? Is he litter trained? Would he claw our leather furniture? Does he have any diseases? What if he really does still belong to someone?

For the first 4 days in his new home, I never saw him come out from under our bed. He was obviously eating and drinking and using the litter box, but would just hide during most of the day. I called the animal shelter and told them of my "found cat." They told me if no one claimed him in 2 weeks then he was considered mine. Once he got used to his new home, I took him to the vet and had him checked over and bathed. They said he was at least 10 years old by looking at his teeth, had some Maine Coon characteristics, and was in excellent health. With a new microchip and all of his shots, he was ready to fly to Virginia to begin a new life as part of the Jones family. A few weeks later, I found out I was pregnant with our first child and a whole new set of questions entered my mind: What will he think of a baby? Will he try to attack it? Will he sit on it and smother it? After all, he does weigh close to 20 pounds!

But just like he adapted easily to his new home, he was also unfazed by the new little life in our home. He never jumped on the table, the counters, or in the crib. He stayed out of the nursery and was gentle around kids. He was loving to everyone who ever visited and slept at the foot of our bed keeping my toes warm. He would wait until the kids were in bed and then come "knead" us with his paws and drool as we petted him. He hardly ever meowed and several times escaped out the door to explore a for a few hours before returning home. And that's the way it was for the past 5 years. During this time, he had to have one of his eyes removed due to glaucoma and began losing weight. At one time he was over 20 pounds and now in September he was a scrawny 9 pounds and failing fast. He was diagnosed with kidney disease and most likely had kidney cancer. The time to say good-bye was very quickly approaching. I knew it was time, one day, when he lost control of his bladder. I wanted him to enjoy his last few moments so we took him outside and had a picnic with him. I told the boys what was about to happen and Mikie took it really hard. He didn't even want to look at C.A. and kept getting weepy. After saying good-bye, Mikie cried most of the day and kept asking when we were getting another cat. While C.A. can never be replaced in our hearts, our home just isn't the same without a four legged fur ball running around.

Here are a few pictures of our last lunch with C.A.

C.A. is buried behind the tree in our backyard. A loving companion with a kind and gentle spirit who will be missed and treasured in our memories forever.

RIP our beloved C.A.