This was the first time we sent C out by himself to the store. It’s right up the pedestrian-only street from us, so we considered it pretty safe. I watched him the whole way from our balcony, and took this as he ran home. This was actually his second time coming back, because the first time he forgot the money (poor guy!).

Katy(posted on Oct 30, 2009 at 8:38 pm)

Our community garden has about 200 apple trees (and maybe 25 plum trees and 25 pear trees) and the produce is free for all. Last year I wasn’t so ambitious, and did not anticipate the sheer tonnage of apple/plum/pears that come out of this place. We collected maybe 50 pounds of apples last year, made mostly applesauce and pies. This year, I had a plan! Apple cider was my plan. This required 125 pounds of apples, so we had quite a few trips to collect and haul them all home. I think there were 5 or 6 trips total with all or part of the family. Besides cider, I’ve also made applesauce and prepared some pie filling to freeze for later. I feel like I could have done more, now that the apples are over. But, it was plenty. Trust me. The apples are all processed and waiting in the freezer until we get some more equipment to make the cider.

Katy(posted on Sep 27, 2009 at 1:42 pm)

Saueklippedagen! This means “Sheep Shearing Day” and is a general day of fiber fun at the Norsk Folkmuseum. There were some sheep who were being sheared, a few tables set up by the Husfliden association with knitting machines and some spinners showing off their stuff, and then an exhibition about dying yarn (which was really cool). We brought a picnic and made a day of it. We even explored some areas of the grounds where we’d never been before!

Katy(posted on Sep 22, 2009 at 5:30 pm)

Ruby skipped the first few weeks of school while we were on vacation, but this was her first day returning to kindergarten. She had seen C’s picture from his first day of school and she wanted one, too. So here she is! New backpack, complete with fancy pin from Grandma Susie, and hat and fingerless gloves made by Auntie Lauren.

Katy(posted on Sep 30, 2009 at 9:03 am)

Every year in September, Treklang invites the families of all the children on a hike in the forest. We go to the usual spot in the forest where the hike group goes every week. It’s nice to have an idea of what the hike days are like for the kids each week. And it was nice to meet some of the new parents and mingle a bit. We found a ton of blueberries, too!

Katy(posted on Sep 27, 2009 at 1:23 pm)

Ruby and I went for a walk in the park.

Chris(posted on Sep 27, 2009 at 10:47 pm)

It was Family Day at our community garden, and we invited C’s old friend Christian Andres to come with us. There was a treasure hunt (of sorts, it was kind of a quiz about different areas of the garden and everyone got a prize at the end.) We also did some painting and took a wagon ride. Of course, apples were collected and eaten and the sunny day was much enjoyed by all.

Katy(posted on Sep 28, 2009 at 8:09 am)

We visited some family friends for a 3-year birthday party. Much fun ensued! C was especially happy to visit old friends from kindergarten, who he’s been missing a lot since he graduated to elementary school.

Katy(posted on Oct 7, 2009 at 9:21 am)

I put a 12mm extension tube on my 135mm lens, just because. Took some pics in our wacky indoor/outdoor light, so I pulled the saturation back so it didn’t look completely clowny.

C was actually letting me take photos of him! A rare opportunity, so I even got a few of him.

Chris(posted on Sep 28, 2009 at 2:06 pm)

Ruby planned a trip to the park for us today. As we headed out, I realized it was unseasonably warm so we stopped by our neighborhood bakery for our last picnic of the year. We made our usual rounds in the park, over the bridge and playing in the stream. C chased pigeons and climbed a tree. We met a three year old and let him fall into the stream (oops!).

Katy(posted on Sep 29, 2009 at 6:52 pm)