Chincoteague Island!

On Fall day, we concluded our Misty of Chincoteague unit.

Dad took us on the royal tour!

Not that icecream had to do with anything in the book, 

but the Island Creamery is a Chincoteague MUST.

*drool*

Then off for a quick trail to the lighthouse.

Everyone needed to burn off some of that sugar!

The actual lighthouse wasn't that impressive to the kids (or to me as a kid)

but being able to see it from all over the island and Assateague was a good reference.

(Plus, the kids remembered it as I pulled the picture up- Yay for brain connections!)

Then we ran a muck on the beach.

We being Liv, George, ad Virginia, of course.

At first I wanted to compare them to the wild ponies on the beach, 

but in reality they were scurrying along the waves like little sand pipers!

I didn't have the heart to remind Ginnie she was afraid of sand.

Plus, a certain little someone seemed to fill that role anyway.

 "Hey kids- look this way!"

"George, look at the camera!!"

"Giiiiiiinnnnie!  Say cheese!"

"Really?"

I give up.

I really give up.  

Sand head.

Ew.

We had to pry them away from the beach.

No one wanted to leave.

Except Maggie!

 But we still had places to go!

This was fun to mess with the kids.....

 Ummm, Misty died years ago, but she is stuffed in the museum!

(with her baby Stormy)

I had NO idea there was a movie, or other books!  

We bought them, of course!

Fun fact- Teaguers used bat poo for energy.

Back to the field trip....

We finally saw some ponies up close.

These are trick ponies, but we didn't go at show time.

We browsed the store instead.

Oh Grandpop...... ha ha.

Thanks Dad, for the fun filled day!

School trips were checked off and most importantly,

Memories were made!

Stuffed What?

Thanks so inspiration from one of our pastors, 

I decided to stuff that little pumpkin I bought on a whim.

 I had 2 acorn squashes just sitting around too.

 Mixing up cooked sausage with onions, sage, breadcrumbs, and apple tidbits I had canned earlier was pretty fast and simple.

  I covered the acorn squashes with foil, just popped the pumpkin top back on, and baked those babies for about an hour and a half.

 The kids had no idea what to do with their piece when I brought it out to the table!

 The pumpkin was sadly tasteless (yes, it was a baking pumpkin), but the filling rocked.  

The squashes on the other hand, made me do a little happy dance.

Green beans, a bowl of chicken and corn cream soup, and stuffed acorn squash.

Have Mercy!

Table Games

In our table game cabinets, I stumbled across this little gem.

At first, it looked like a bunch of flashcards.

Boring!

 But then I realized it was full of age appropriate learning for each kid.

It has great matching possibilities for Ginnie.

 (See?  Match the black shape to the objects of the same shape.  There is a color one also.)

 And visual number groups for Liv.  

She has a hard time grasping math concepts, so any reinforcements help.

Plus, numbers for George to put in order.  

We have used it at least a dozen times already this year!  

Thank you Julie ( my SIL) for giving us so many homeschool resources!

Look at them apples!

What does one do with 92 lbs of apples?

(the kids eat about half!)

Well, first you wash and peel.

Sometimes it peels well.

It is a nice thing to get into a groove.

See, I'm happy.

Then, a peeling mishap... no big deal.

Get back on the peeler.

Hmmmm, then another....., I won't throw the apple across the room.

(in front of the kids anyway)

What on earth???

I lost my peeling mojo!

The peeler kept wobbling, I was getting frustrated, I needed help.

I needed an attitude adjustment.

Liv is eating a worm and

I am Master Shi Fu!

Oh yes, there is my Apple Mojo!

I filled up the crock pot to get started on some apple sauce with the first batch.

Then I called in the troops.

I didn't think they would be that much help, or have as much stamina as they did!

Liv peeled, 

I chopped, 

George filled the pot, 

and Ginnie was quality control.

She gets her foreman skills from her Momma.

We even worked through a sliced thumb- ouch!

It was a long Sunday afternoon, but it felt good.

We canned chopped apple tidbits, for baking.  It eliminates the prep chopping.

Apple slices for stewing, cooking, and just plain eating out of the jar with cinnamon.

Apple puree for baking (instead of using oil) or to use as a base in pork dishes.

I don't have any of those pork recipes on hand, but I'm working on a couple in my head.

Oh, I love apples.

We are going back for more this weekend too!