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.