Fall farm fun

Two happy apples!

Pick apples. Pick pumpkins. Check, check.

The past few weekends have been spent out of doors as much as possible--whether we're faced with cold drizzle and clouds or hot sun. We made it to two area farms, and couldn't have had more opposing experiences. We'll start chronologically, with the apples.

It was with more than one shadow of doubt, and half a dozen "reloads" on weather.com, that we piled into the car last Saturday morning for the 45-minute drive to an apple orchard that promised the most authentic farm experience of all the competing orchards around. On our way, we passed the big-name orchard and were glad we weren't parking there--too fancy for our taste.

Elise feeds "Grandma." No offense,
Grandma!

We found our little farm after a peaceful drive past a few longhorn cows. And before we were even out of the car, we were greeted by Farmer Dan himself. "You're just in time to help me give the cows their breakfast!" And he had Kalina at "cows." Soon we were all laughing as "Grandma" cow nearly knocked over the fence in her excitement to get at the hay. I'm not sure whether Farmer Dan or Grandma put on a better show. What fun! Then he promised us baby chicks in the barn.

Who's happier?

We visited a few other animals on the way, but could resist the chicks no longer. Another farmhand kindly let Kalina pet and then hold one--I think the girl was born to hold baby animals. Elise was content to pet Kalina's.

And then we smelled fresh-baked donuts, even before we saw someone walk by with a couple of them. We followed our noses to a tiny bakery that pretty much only sold donuts and coffee, but did not need to do anything else. So then we were eating apple cider donuts and pumpkin donuts outside on a chilly fall morning (with clouds but no rain!) and had already had a fabulous morning and had not yet even picked our apples.

We finally made our way to the wagon that would take us out to the orchards. We grabbed a giant bag (after all, we're not going out there to pick for 5 minutes and come back!) and hopped on. We passed peach trees and blackberry pushes on our way, and soon were let off by he winesaps and the golden delicious. The wagon drove away and, other than the housing development on the other side of a hedge, we were alone in an apple orchard.

Most of the apples needed a boost
to be picked.

First things first, we sampled. Then we let each girl pick a couple. And then Daddy went after the slightly more elusive golden delicious, Kalina and I found a tree she could climb, and Elise continued to eat.

In fact, Elise munched on an apple the rest of the time until the wagon picked us up. The apples were too high for her to pick, anyway, and she didn't seem to mind being left alone with her apple.

This was high enough for
both of us.

Kalina couldn't have been prouder to climb a tree. It was particularly ladder-like, and she was never more than five feet off the ground, so it was perfect. After hopping down, she went off to pick more apples, which is how we ended up with lots of weird ones in our bag.

She eventually worked her
way around to the other side, too.

Then I got down to business and loaded a bunch of winesaps into our bag. The trees, which were bursting with them, seemed relieved.

As we waited for the wagon to take us back, we sampled some more--and Elise finally finished hers as the wagon pulled up.

But our fun wasn't over! The farm also has a lovely little play area for kids--no bounce houses or pony rides, but a giant hay pile to climb on (Kalina scrambled all the way to the top!), a pretend horse to sit on and brush that Elise did not ever want to leave, a play house, a tool shed, and much more. Perfect.

Daddy's cringing because
a heavily loaded tree
shaken by a toddler can
be a dangerous thing.

We dragged ourselves away in time, and then headed home to wash our apples and make crisp, and eat more apples. We will be back as often as we possibly can.

This afternoon, we geared up for the farm experience again! This time, on a hot and sunny afternoon and at a farm closer to town.

Blech. We waited in a line of cars to wade through crowds standing in more lines to pay more money for a sad hayride, to enter a pumpkin field wasteland. I will spare you more details but will try to look on the bright side:

1. Kalina and Elise were both proud to find their own pumpkins. Two of the smallest ones on the farm, in fact.
2. Matt was a very good sport, and was simply glad that I did not consider the farm a fun place to be (I'd found it online and had it recommended by a neighbor).
3. We were able to leave quickly and go back to the pretty state park to play around in instead.

We picked our own
pumpkins, but at what
price?

The state park was pretty and fun. Everything that the pumpkin patch was not. Yay!

Happy fall!

Our fall hike

Back up a little...a little more.... :)

October is our favorite month. Matt has his own reasons, but I have a list, too (hot chocolate, making crafts out of pretty leaves, etc.). We're each working on checking off our lists, and yesterday we put a line through "take a fall hike at a state park."

There happens to be a state park, busy city notwithstanding, just past the grocery store and we had yet to check it out. We put jeans and sensible shoes on the kids, packed up some homemade donuts for a pretty place we had yet to find, and soon afterward were pulling into a bustling parking lot. Apparently, we weren't the only ones who wanted to be outside in nature on a gorgeous afternoon.

Kalina's first real hike, leading to a
real view!

But, a few minutes later, we were the only ones pulling an out-of-her-element two-year-old up a hiking trail by her hand, or trying to chase the four-year-old as she trail-ran up the same path, lest she trip over a root and fall down the steep hill to her left. Needless to say, we divided and conquered.

Elise, in her defense, had recently lost the "but I want to take that trail" battle. But I also think she was a bit intimidated in the transition from open field to darkish woods, especially as she's not yet old enough to know that wolves don't roam those hills.

We investigated something that looked like a bird's nest to Elise (who ran ahead to show her sister), some fungus, some fallen logs, a few remaining flowers, and more. Elise consented to hike for a bit, and then needed to be carried. It was in this transition (I had carried her a lot the day before, and now it was Matt's turn) that Kalina charged ahead, with me in tow, and we managed to hike up a steep-ish slope to a scenic overlook. A real hike!

So proud of my little trooper!

Kalina showed little or no fear for approaching the very edge of the cliff--but fortunately, I stopped her well before she got that far. We both agreed that the view of a wooded river bluff was quite pretty, and then Kalina posed for a picture, complete with her preschool/hiking pack. (We'd packed her backpack full of the snacks and water as it was the only one handy at the time. While she was actually enthusiastic about carrying all the family's supplies, Matt and I did all the heavy lifting.)

We hiked up just a little bit farther before heading back down to Daddy and Elise, who was quite unsettled with Mommy out of sight and in the woods, no less. It was on the hike down that Kalina first showed any fear--after all, the rocky trail was a bit slippery. Soon, however, she was charging down the path faster than even I was comfortable.

On Saturday, we went to Six Flags
for Matt's work picnic. The
balloon ride nearly had us in
tears shortly after this photo was
taken.

Elise was happy to be carried by Mommy again down the rest of the trail, and even happier to be back in the open. Next, we made our way to a creek that looked like it had the potential to be explored.

The creek was full of rocks, and some of these rocks, as we soon discovered, contained fossil imprints! And possibly one or two had once been part of an arrowhead? The girls excitedly tossed rocks into the stream, Matt tracked down at least three or four species of living creatures, and I continued to hunt for fossils. None of us wanted to leave.

On our way out, we drove to the end of the park--and spotted a few deer grazing. As we left the park, Matt and I saw a great horned owl. And on the way home, we shared the homemade donuts we'd brought along, just in time to spoil our dinner.

Much more fun at Six Flags: running
up and down this steep hill with
some friends.

We may have checked this particular fall activity off the list for now, but we're pretty sure it'll be on our shortlist for years to come.

A family portrait

Take a look at this photo. See anyone familiar? In fact, this seemingly random configuration of blocks is actually a well-thought-out portrait of our family. Matt and I can't sign our name to this artwork, nor can Kalina, although I bet she was your first thought. No--little Elise is the one who has figured out how to design representations of real objects using materials at hand. She's the one behind this, and, fortunately, she explained her picture to me as she went.

While Kalina was playing in the yard with the neighbor girl (a feat astounding in itself!), Elise and I pulled out these blocks to entertain ourselves. We possibly would've conquered something more productive, such as the putting away of the laundry, had we not both been awake for two hours last night, nor napped very well (if at all). Magnetic picture blocks for us.

Elise swiftly and decidedly grabbed the large purple circle first, and plunked it onto the board. Next came another purple block, then the two small yellow circles.

"Elise!" she told me, pointing to her work. Wow--a self-portrait! I was already impressed, but it got better.

The girl added a blue arc, calling it a rainbow. Next, she put a medium-sized blue circle into place. "What's that?" I wondered. Elise, not offended that I couldn't interpret her masterpiece, told me it was her tongue, then demonstrated. After that, another blue piece for "hair," a green piece that she labeled a "shh!" (likely something having to do with sleeping), and a small orange square, which she since grabbed and held in her hand because, as she told me, it's Bear. All of these matched up quite anatomically--even the little orange square Bear, when originally placed, was where Elise's hand would be, as if it were being held.

After this, she slowed down, so I made her pose for a picture, which she obligingly did. Then it was on to Kalina.

We made a mini leaf pile for
Lamby and Pink Bear, and then
I convinced the girls to pose in it
for me.

Elise plunked down a couple pieces for Kalina (yellow square for her head, orange trapezoid thing for hair, yellow arc for, I'm assuming, arms or a body). Then she gave Kalina a purple "rainbow," and immediately realized her mistake. Fortunately, magnetic Kalina was happy to trade Elise for the blue one (pictured). Magnetic Elise was then granted three other purple rainbows, earning herself quite a collection.

Kalina received an orange rectangle that Elise was careful to point out represented shoes--one on each short end. The green thing is a "shh" and the orange square I can only assume is Lamby, or whichever stuffed animal Kalina happens to be carrying at the time.

I then convinced Elise to make Daddy. She began with a green circle (the girls have assigned Daddy green as his favorite color--it is not) and added seemingly random shapes until she was finished. To me, he looks like a hummingbird; to Matt, like a handgun.

"What about Mommy?" I hoped for something cute. Elise reluctantly, yet full of good will, handed me a yellow zigzag--no more, no less. There were, by the way, plenty of blocks left.

"Can we put it on the board and I'l. get a picture?" My request was not granted until about the fourth time, and even then I was shoved into a corner (I'd originally placed myself in the wide open space next to Daddy). I took my picture before she could change her mind.

Then we made an elephant, which Elise added the trunk to, demonstrating to me with her arm how it was used.

Am I right to be astonished?

The Elk Park adventure

Those of us who have been to Lone Elk Park with us will appreciate this video, which Matt put together from the footage from last Sunday's visit. The rest of you might think it's pretty cool, too!

Purple party!

Purple food, purple chair
purple everything!

When asked what she wanted to do for her birthday, Elise's answer has been, invariably, purple. With this instruction, it wasn't hard to pull together a sweet purple party for the girl. What good taste she has! We set out to make it a very purple day for Elise.

Mix at Six!

It all started with a purple cake, which was baked at 6:30 in the morning because, well, why wouldn't you be baking a birthday cake that early on a Saturday? What else would you be doing? We both enjoyed the project, and so did Grandma, who was our guest of honor for the weekend and was happy to join in on the fun. Because what else would you do at 6:30 a.m.? I'm still not sure.

At the Botanical Garden
with Grandma!

A Kalina spider showing
Grandma the ropes
at the garden.

Second possibly only to purple, Elise loves the pouring, mixing and tasting that go along with baking, so the project was a success even before the cake was in the oven, and even before it was frosted with purple icing, or decorated with two purple candles.

After a breakfast of purplish cereal in a purple bowl, complete with a purple cup of (white) milk, Elise and the rest of us were on our way to the botanical garden for a little pre-party outdoor fun. It's an amazing place, and both girls enjoyed showing Grandma the ropes (quite literally, in Kalina's case).

Elise-bee gathering nectar.

And then it was business as usual, as we enjoyed a little lunch and a little nap. When she turns 3, she'll be allowed to skip the nap on her birthday--but definitely not at 2.

Elise arrived downstairs a couple hours later to a fabulously purple decorating job completed by her own personal elves--Daddy and Kalina. Purple streamers and balloons were everywhere! Just as exciting, there was purple popcorn to be made! We'd already prepared fresh-squeezed (non-purple) lemonade and some purple fruits, plus Daddy was getting ready to fire up the grill for hot dogs and hamburgers, at the birthday girl's request.

And then our next guest arrived--Grandpa Tom, back from a long vacation, which made his entrance that much more exciting. After a quick purple snack, Kalina and Elise dug into the presents, purple and non-purple alike.

Elise and her friend and a present.

Soon afterward, both girls were dressed in matching purple outfits and exclaiming over new toys. And then we headed outside to watch for our other guests--a little girl a little younger than Elise and her mom. Which made a big enough party for our new 2-year-old.

The birthday girl's dinner of choice included hot dogs and finally, the much-awaited purple cake.

Which almost caused more trouble than it was worth, as I had to tell Elise "no, not yet" about a dozen times, almost ruining her special day, before I could finally announce, "It's time for the cake!"

Elise joining in with the
singing.

Frankly, I'm amazed Elise was able to keep her fingers out of it as we lit the candles. The candles did get accidentally blown out before we could sing (not sure if Elise or her sister was the culprit, as both were blowing as hard as they could--although Kalina has better aim).

Once we reminded the little girl it was time for her happy birthday song, she started us off before smiling around at all of us, distracted a bit from the purple frosting. Then, we were all glad for Kalina's help or else the candles might never have been extinguished.

Finally allowed to dig in
with her finger!

Elise dug in with her finger, which I didn't even try to replace with a spoon. She combed every bit of purple frosting from her slice of cake--but left most of the rest, even though she had gratefully devoured tastes of the batter that morning.

There were still a few presents left, and as some of them were books, they transitioned us smoothly to bedtime. We said goodbye to guests, then brought the purple party to an official end (our house, however, remains decorated). 


What a purple day! We had so much fun wishing our daughter the purplest of birthdays, and many purple returns. Purple!

More purple!

And even more. There was
more but it didn't get
photographed. Oops!

Two Cute Elise

Elise's cheeks are so poofy
because she's saying "cheese."

Today, for the first or maybe second time (I know, gross!) I sent Elise's beloved Pink Bear through the washer. She was unaware, having previously determined that the only place she wanted to give Pink Bear a bath was in Kalina's pretend bathtub.

But it had to be done: thanks to Pink Bear's grayish-brownish "I've been loved SO much" tint, she was barely living up to her name anymore.

The bear emerged sweet-smelling and genuinely rosy, except for her nose, which was still gray with love and probably always will be. Elise never suspected a thing, but was simply happy to see her friend again.

The transformation of Pink Bear back to her cheery self reminded me of another transformation--that of my little girl herself who is, in fact, two years old!

Good thing Kalina was
around to help with the
presents!

This actually comes as a bit of a surprise--after all, Elise just turned one, it seems to me, and I've been thinking of her as one for a whole year now. But the facts are all there: Elise can form short sentences, pedal a trike when the wind is with her, recognize some letters sometimes, sing, put on a sock, balance on high places without falling off, draw, feed a fish and so much more. Yup, I guess she's two.

Elise, herself, seemed to be every bit as averse to turning two as I was to see it happen. Although she's highly in favor of birthdays, it took her a long time to get used to the fact that she'd soon be encountering an identity shift.

"How old will you be on your birthday, Elise?"
"One." (Holding up one pudgy little finger)
"Actually, you'll be two! Big girl!" (Holding up two fingers)
"No!" (Shaking her head, offended) "One." (One finger)

Chocolate cupcake with
sprinkles, eaten entirely
with fingers. Perfect.

It took a few weeks to get the concept across, and now Elise seems resigned to her two-year-old status, even if she forgets sometimes. And she seems positively thrilled with all of her two-year-old accomplishments, which she almost seems to have been cramming in as her birthday has approached.

Yes, the girl talks up a storm--or at least, a nice breeze, anyway. She's just beginning to freely use full sentences, but can easily put several words together, especially if one of them is "purple."

She also runs around the yard, balances, climbs, swings and generally explores every bit as adeptly as a two-year-old should. Which means that several times a day she takes Mommy's breath away as she either treks to the top of a giant twisty slide (and not using the stairs, mind you), or plummets onto pavement (for a while, she had a permanent skinned knee that she was rather proud of and hardly bothered by).

Elise listens patiently to long stories, sings her own little alphabet song, composed mostly of vowels, and counts to two, or higher with a little help. She recognizes some letters, especially an E, and possibly her own name. She's known all her colors for a long time, and can distinguish between lights and darks, plus she seems to know her shapes.

Of course, there are the less tangible things, too. Elise loves to be happy, and tries to whenever she doesn't have to be upset about the fact that she's not allowed to stand on the countertop, for instance. And yet, even if she is standing on the countertop, and flashing me her giant, "Look what I can do!" grin, and giggling, there's little chance I can possibly get upset with her. I bet you couldn't, either.

Elise would happily dye herself purple, and dresses up whenever possible. She's recently been seen wearing a necklace as a belt, a box as a hat, shorts as a necklace, a bracelet as an anklet, a blanket as a dress, a breadstick as a ring, a headband as a belt, sunglasses as a shoe, a sock as a mitten, Kalina's pajama pants, my flip-flops, Daddy's belt, stickers all over her tummy, and so forth. Not all at once, thank goodness. And she likes to look in the mirror. It could be that the toddler is more image-conscious than the rest of us combined, but at least she's cute enough to justify it.

What else? The toddler loves to stand on her head (feet firmly planted on the ground), and watch the world go by. She'll happily join in any interesting activity, from dusting to watering plants to scattering puzzle pieces across the floor. She loves to wake up anyone or anything that's sleeping (even if they're just pretending), and call animals by emitting a loud shriek (which rarely attracts anything). Among her absolute favorite activities are playing with water and coloring, both of which she'll do pretty much indefinitely when uninterrupted. She also likes to catch pretend fish, reeling them in, showing them off (they're always purple) and tossing them back. Elise is amazingly good at sharing, which even at two, she occasionally does voluntarily and without panicking.

Perhaps no one has noticed the overall transformation in Elise more than Kalina, who now routinely seeks her out as a playmate instead of stashing all of her toys in high places, as was the custom for much of Elise's second year. Although Kalina doesn't always cheer when Elise gets up from her nap, she always has a giant hug for the little one after preschool, gives her lovely glider rides on the swingset and hands over anything purple without question. What more could Elise ask?

It's interesting to see, too, that some things don't change--since Day 1, Elise has been an avid observer of the world around her. Little gets by this girl, which can be a plus or a minus depending on whether you're trying to potty train her or hide your chocolate chip cookie from her. This means that she's a great learner, and can mimic everything from Olympic diving to a cat.

It's true, Elise has shaken things up in our little household. And while we, like Pink Bear, might be a bit grayer around the nose (or hair) for it, we can't help feeling a whole lot of love.

Happy second birthday, Sweetie! We love you!

First Day of Big Girl Preschool

Kalina picked her whole
outfit by herself!

 First there was gentle-separation preschool. Then there was "big kid" gentle-separation preschool. And on Tuesday, Kalina began preschool for real--no mommies, lots of crafts.

We'd been talking about it for a long time. I wasn't sure whether to break the news slowly months ahead of time, or to bring it up on the way. Parenting lore will tell you it's much better to prepare the child, but for Kalina that often equates to pre-event hysterical anxiety, and sometimes she swims better when tossed into the ice-cold pool without too much time to worry about how to kick and paddle at the same time (theoretically, of course). So we talked about it a little, but not too much.

Despite the fact that Kalina can already compose rhyming poetry, find several states on a map and tie knots, we'll be keeping her from kindergarten until she's 6, just to give her a better start. That means two years of preschool, so this year we're taking it easy. Kalina will be attending twice a week, for 2 1/2 hours each day. That's plenty for all of us, plus we'll still be able to make appearances at library storytime and all the rest. Besides, we'll miss her, and she'll miss us.

The backpack.

Kalina's mood leading up to her first day has been:
1. Denial ("I'm not going to preschool.")
2. Anger ("I'm stressed but don't understand why, so I'll take it out on my little sister and/or Mommy.")
3. Bargaining ("I will only go to Magic House preschool.")
4. Depression ("I'm sad but I don't understand why, so I'll take it out on my little sister and/or Mommy.")
5. Acceptance? ("Lamby is going to big-kid preschool without me because I got a new job and I have to be at work all day.")

On the Thursday prior, we attended a visitation day. I'm not sure who was more nervous in the days and hours before: me or Kalina. Elise was pure excitement--as long as I promised to be by her side. Kalina would rather have stayed home.

We entered the room and found it a zoo--lots of parents and siblings, and a handful of actual preschoolers. The kids were:
1. Happily playing with toys and other kids
2. Quietly passing the time with toys
3. Being introduced, sometimes against their will, to other kids

On a visit to Des Moines
for Matt's work trip, staying
with friends Allison and James

We met one girl who seemed about as enthusiastic as Kalina (not very), and another who eyed her as a potential playmate. I was glad to see that the class was divided about 50/50, unlike her previous class, which contained exactly 1 other girl. It was cute to see how many of the boys gravitated toward the blocks and cars, whereas most of the girls spent significant time with the dolls (no boys came close to that corner of the room). We saw the circle time rug, and the playground from the classroom window, plus several books that we also have at home.

Much to my relief, the teacher was warm, friendly and a self-proclaimed goofball. I think Kalina will like her quite a bit--the girl even politely said "hi" when prompted (I anticipated the cold shoulder). Overall, the visit was a success--but would the first day be?


Kalina's animals, too, have been attending school on occasion, as have Kalina and Elise during playtime. It goes fine when we pretend. They're always a little nervous at first, but are soon put to rights by circle time and playground time.

Inside a teepee framework
at Living History Farms!

With all this preparation,I started to get a bit more optimistic about how Kalina's first day would go, but couldn't shake the memories of kicking and screaming and prying from summer camp.

Kalina couldn't have been in a better mood the morning of her first day. We'd packed her backpack and laid out an outfit the day before, and she got dressed with little or no fuss (remarkable). She accessorized herself--also a rarity.

The girl regularly mentioned that she was nervous, but we were able to talk through her fears with a greater amount of logic than I would've expected from a 4-year-old. She was thrilled to know that God would be going to preschool with her.

The pioneer cabin. Notice
that Elise is letting Allison
hold her!

Kalina's cheer lasted all the way into her classroom, at which point she burst into a flood of anxious tears. But she was soon calmed by some markers, then a box of stuffed animals and finally a light table. We were still playing with the light table when I looked up and realized I was just about the only parent in the room and it really was time to say goodbye. It was one of those, "This is as hard for me as it is for you" parenting moments, but the kind teacher saved the day by guiding Kalina back to the animals as I guided Elise out the door. I listened in the hallway until I was sure I couldn't hear crying anymore (so, all of 2-3 minutes). All the other parents smiled sympathetically, and I knew I was in a good place.

And then? Elise and I had a little too much fun at Target and the shoe store. Shortly after I'd gotten everything unloaded at home, it was time to go get Kalina.

Petting a calf!

"Some parts were kind of okay!!!" Kalina told me ecstatically when I'd pushed through the crowd of parents to her side. Then she hugged me about a dozen times. While we'll never know everything that happened at preschool, I do know that:
-She thought there was a centipede in the "fun house," and that it was going to pinch her, so she had a conversation with her teacher about it.
-She made two friends. She doesn't know their names, and she didn't play with them, but one found her bracelet after it had been missing, and they had a little conversation about it. Not sure why the other one is her friend, other than the fact that she's a girl who happened to be standing in close proximity to us when I picked Kalina up.
-The playground was a little bit boring, but it also cheered her up.
-They had shark cookies for snack (it was one boy's birthday today).
-Best of all, she wants to go back!