Conner Prairie

Dallin had some doctor appointments in Indianapolis in September, which required him being out of school for the day. I figured that rather than drive all the way down and straight back (like I normally do), we'd do something fun and turn a missed school day into something educational. We met my friend Deidra and her 2 kids at Conner Prairie. It's an interactive history park. There's a small indoor museum, but most of the attractions are outside.

There were farm animals that we got to pet in the barn.

 Actors are dressed up in period clothing and they teach you about life in Indiana in the 19th century as you explore the "town."

The kids sat listening to this blacksmith talk about his job for like 10 minutes. I was amazed at their attention span.

The kids got to dress up and do chores.

 Connor in the apron/skirt is cracking me up. (It was his choice to wear it.)

I love these 3 cuties.

We got to play some games that kids played back then, like hoop rolling and walking on stilts.

Connor thought it was a hockey stick and kept trying to take slap shots.

They told me they were on their way to Florida.

 After a beautiful, warm afternoon spent running and playing, we stopped at the apple store (not the kind that sells iPods) on the prairie for some chocolate dipped pretzel sticks and apple cider slushies. 

Our kids sure are a silly bunch of apples.

We love having good friends to do fun things with; friends who talk me into buying an apple cider slushy. That extra cold, sugar rush kept me awake on the hour long drive home.

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Also in September, Mckay's parents came to visit. I didn't take many pictures when they were here, but I did get a few cute ones of the boys when we went to Fair Oaks Farm with them to see the pigs.

Dallin getting an up close look at a newborn piglet (kept behind glass, of course).

There are veterinarian coats and stethoscopes for the kids to wear as they learn about pigs. Connor kept his on for along time.

Looking at all the little piglets.

We love going to Fair Oaks Farms.

Strawberries and hiking

Last month we went to a local farm to pick strawberries!

The field was a little damp/muddy from rain the day before so we wore boots and prepared to get dirty.

The beautiful strawberries were all bright red, sweet and juicy. 

Connor and Dallin helped pick for a few minutes and then they just watched me pick the rest. Thanks, guys. The farmers gives you an orange flag so you can mark where you left off picking on your row for the convenience of the next picker. Dallin took care of holding the flag for us.

Connor took pictures for me. I'll spare you from most of the finger covered shots he took of other people picking with butts in the air. Here are his two best pictures: 

Not bad. 

We picked 6 pounds of strawberries. That was more than enough for snacking and making a lot of strawberry freezer jam.

Later that week, we went on a little hike with some friends at the nearby State Park.

Connor and his 2-year-old girl buddy held hands on the walk.

 Then Dallin and his 5-year-old girl buddy decided to join in the hand holding.

They tried walking with hands held in a circle, "Ring-around-the-rosie" style, but that proved very difficult for them.

So they finally settled on holding hands in a line. 

 Our friends will be moving in a few weeks, so we've been soaking up all the fun time we can get with them. We've really enjoyed getting to know their family these 4 years that we've lived here.

Grandpa Crapo and trains

My dad had a business trip to Purdue this month, so he got to visit with us for a few days in between appointments. The boys, as always, were excited to see Grandpa and to play legos with him. It cold outside, so we found indoor activities to do. We drove to a small train museum about 45 minutes away in Monon, Indiana. There was a little diner/cafe that was full of train memorabilia. The best part was that two separate train tracks hung from the ceiling and you could watch trains driving round and round on the track while you ate.

Connor and Dallin spent most of the meal with their necks like this.

The boys split a grilled cheese sandwich. 

Dad and I had some yummy burgers with sweet potato fries.

We looked around the museum area for a bit.

Then we went outside to look at the restored trains. Connor really wanted to climb onto the trains but they weren't open.

I just realized that I didn't take any pictures of my dad on this trip. I promise he was there, standing just outside this picture, with Connor staring at him. 

*Dad was here*

It started snowing and all of us were getting cold, including Dad, who is used to warmer California weather. We stomped in the snow for one more minute...

...and then ran for the warmth and protection of the car.

Dad took us out for dinner for some really delicious Mediterranean food. I've never eaten tapas style before but it was all really good food. We ordered fried zucchini chips, grilled swordfish with a honey bourbon glaze, chorizo and bacon potato cakes, hummus and pita, stuffed cherry peppers wrapped in Prosciutto, and housemade pasta with marinara. We ordered the pasta dish mostly for the kids to eat, but it's amazing how much better fresh pasta tastes. It was really good. Mmm, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it all again.

After dinner, we came home and Dad made us chocolate magic shell to go on vanilla ice cream. We ate a lot of food while my Dad was here... Unfortunately, he had to leave at 4am the next morning to catch his flight out of Indianapolis, so we didn't wake up to eat breakfast him. But we had a really fun time and it was wonderful to see him again. 

Adventures in Denver

The day after Christmas, we got really sick. I hardly moved from the couch for 4 days. Some other Eastons had been sick earlier in the week and it made it's way through our family too. Mckay was sick for 3 days at the same time I was. Mom and Dad Easton started their sickness a few days before we did, so they were sort of on the mend as we got sicker. We all just laid around the house resting for 4 days. Dallin and Connor somehow escaped getting sick for any longer than half a day, so the 4 adults in the house took turns taking care of and entertaining the boys. One person would feed them breakfast while everyone else rested. Then someone else would get them lunch. Then someone else would play legos with them. We let the boys watch waaaay too many movies during the sick days, but you gotta do what you gotta do to get better. Even if that involves watching "Star Wars: A New Hope" several times each day. I thought about taking pictures to document our sick days for the blog, but that would have required enough energy to leave the couch and find the camera.

When we were finally feeling better, we had to get out of the house and do fun things. Our first stop was the Butterfly Pavilion with the cousins.

This butterfly landed on Graham and he was pretty excited about it.

Besides a walk-through butterfly garden, they had lots of caged insects and animals to see.

I know the glare makes it hard, but can you spot the tarantula in this cage?

There it is!

There was a tarantula that they let people hold. We all took a turn.

The kids were pretty fearless.

 Dallin and Connor had a fun time playing with their cousins.

Charlotte and Dallin

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We went bowling one day.

I played the best game I've ever played and scored about 150 (if I remember correctly)! Yes, we had bumpers up for the kids, but I only benefited from them once. Those strikes were all mine.

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 We went to the Denver Zoo. It was a warm but still cold day, so we enjoyed a lot of the indoor exhibits.

 Connor couldn't take his eyes off the Komodo dragons.

We have a book about Komodo dragons that he loves so I think he was really excited to see them in person.

 ***

We had to make sure that we spent a day at the Train Museum for Connor's sake.

He was in heaven. He loved the indoor miniature train display.

And we saw the real trains outside.

And there was an outdoor mini train display.

Connor could hardly take his eyes off the trains.

Being sick was no fun, but we made up for it by going to fun places.

Pumpkins and Piano Recital

Purdue has some research farms in the area. (Horticulture is a big deal around here.) The research focuses on things like weed management, soil fertility, insect management, fruit and vegetable production, etc.  At the end of the growing season, they have plenty of extra produce. They let groups (like a few local mothers and their toddler children) come and pick pumpkins and apples for free. 

They took us around the farm on a tractor wagon. 

It was a rainy day, and the first really cold day of the season, so I was very unprepared for the weather. We were all wet and freezing by the end. The boys each chose one pumpkin and promptly hopped back on the wagon before they got too soaked. I stayed out a little longer and grabbed several more cool looking pumpkins, seen in the bottom right below.

Between everyone in the group, we had a pretty good haul, despite the cold rain.

I put all my pumpkins to good use for my student piano recital the next day.

This was my second recital and this year we did a bit of a Halloween theme. I found several "scary" sounding classical music pieces for the kids to learn. 

Some of the pieces include: Toccata in D Minor by Bach (this is the one I played), Beethoven's 5th Symphony, Hungarian Dance by Brahms, Funeral March by Chopin, and In the Hall of the Mountain King by Grieg. Since I have mostly younger students, the selections were simplified, but still sounded really cool.

Not only did they get to learn about some really well known pieces and composers, but it was a nice little introduction for many of them about major and minor keys, and how emotion and mood can be expressed through music.

All six of my students did a great job. I feel so proud watching all of them perform, knowing how hard they have worked.

There were refreshments after the recital. I used our recently picked apples to make a dessert. I've already done plenty with apples this year, so I had to try a new apple dessert.

Mini apple pies!

I used the same crust dough and mini muffin pan that I use to make the mini Pecan Tarts, and filled them with small diced apple pie filling instead. I used my regular old apple pie recipe and it tasted great. All the great taste of an apple pie in one little bite.