Sonlight Garden

Apples and Pumpkins and all that follows

We went on our most favorite field trip of the year, apple picking and pumpkin picking. This has become a tradition and we look forward to it every year. We picked quite a few apples and made a big batch of crockpot applesauce and two apple pies. I ended up splurging for this apple peeler, corer, slicer and I am so glad I did. It cut my prep time of the apples in half. I'm halfway tempted to go back and pick some more apples so I can put up some applesauce for the rest of the year.

Looking forward to planting some apple trees here on our farm. The list is long of our plans for this farm! Next years garden is going to be HUGE! With a big pumpkin patch. That is what I say now! HA! We are hoping to start working on some fencing soon so we can get some livestock on this grass. We have six pastures that all need repair. It can get overwhelming just thinking about it. But I am excited to start. We just need some time. We are in the thick of football season and, the days are getting shorter. But, it's all good, and we'll get there. 

I think I'll have a piece of pie. 

Arlington National Cemetery

Day 6

I know I keep saying how hot it was on our vacation, but this last day it was truly, truly hot. I believe they broke the record in DC this day. It was something insane like 105 or 106. This was the day we decided to be outside and trek around the National Cemetery. You were only able to walk so far and then you had to stop under a shade tree and rest and drink water. Despite the heat I am still glad we visited. I want the children to see this. I visited this place in high school and I remember being so moved. The rows and rows of grave stones gave me chills.

As hot as we were, I can't imagine how hot these soldiers were. We were privileged to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

This picture was actually taken at the WWII memorial but I thought it fitting to go here.

 

After we returned back to Aunt M's house we had dinner and then celebrated A. and Joseph's upcoming birthdays.

When John Paul found out we were celebrating birthdays he immediately set out to make some cars made out of Duplo blocks. He gave these cars to his cousin whom he adores. We had such a great time with Terry's sister, BIL and nephew. We love them so much. They were so gracious to house the  TEN of us for the week. I'm sure they were ready for their own vacation after we left!! (hee hee)

And that's a wrap!!

Washington D.C.

Day 5

On Friday we went to DC. We spent most of our day at the Museum of American History. We were there for about four hours. We didn't plan on spending all of our time there, but there was just so much to see. After we left the museum we walked to the monuments. It was still so stinkin' HOT. But the scenery was just beautiful with the sun starting to go down.

trying to cool off in the sprinklers.

Mary Jane holding up the Washington Monument.

The WWII memorial

The girls in front of our new home state

The ever patient, ever happy Henry. It was way to hot to carry him around in my carrier. My goodness, he is such an easy going baby. He had a smile on his face most of the day. 

Silver tree in the sculpture garden at the Museum of Art (i think).

The National Zoo

Day 4

Short and sweet post.

On day four of our trip we went to visit my cousin and her family in the morning and then we went to the National Zoo. The highlight of our trip to the zoo was seeing the Panda Bears. The Panda is Julia's favorite animal. We have never seen a live Panda, so we were thrilled that we had this opportunity.  They were in their inside habitats on the day we visited. (Why the Panda picture is not that great) It was sooooo hot that day. Looking back on my pictures I realize I did not take a lot. I think because of the heat. We were bummed that it was so hot because I think we would have enjoyed our visit more. 

Monticello and UVA

Day Two

On day two of our trip we went to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. We loved this place. We took the "family friendly" version of the house tour and enjoyed it so much. Our guide was great with the children. In some of the rooms the children sat on the floor and looked around for clues. In one of the rooms the guide had talked about how Thomas Jefferson's daughter Martha and her family had come to live with him. When she came to live them she had eight children. The guide exclaimed "Can you imagine that many children! And then she had three more. Can you imagine that many children running around here!" Terry and I looked at each other and chuckled. Great tour. A little pricey for the amount of time we got to spend in the actual home, but I am so glad we were able to see this. Thomas Jefferson was a brilliant man. They also had some hands on activites for the children and a hands on discovery center. We learned a lot that day.

 

We also went to the University of Virginia. Our nephew R. just graduated from there. His senior year he had the privilege of living on the lawn.  R. was out of town when we visited his family so we took a picture of us in front of his old room.  Behind the professors housing were these beautiful gardens. It was so fairy tale-ish. 

That wraps up day two!

 

Manassas and Bull Run

Day One

Sorry a lot of pictures!

We went to Manassas the first day of our vacation. This is the site of the first battle of the Civil War. Henry House was the wooden house on the top of the hill. Eighty-five year old Judith Henry died in that farm house. She was bedridden and refused to leave her home when the first battle broke out. She was killed by an artillery shell that was meant for a sharp shooter. So sad.

This is the stone bridge that crosses Bull Run. It was a strategic crossing for the troops. This was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I would have loved to have explored this area more. I think it would have been fun to skip on down those rocks.

Joseph found an artifact. a vintage Pepsi can. Not from the Civil War but from the 1970's we believe.

It would have been so fun to have had a metal detector. I can only imagine what we have been able to find, however they were strictly forbidden.

Henry hanging out. I would have been lost without my Ergo baby carrier.

Stone house. This house, I believe, was an old tavern, however during the first stage of the war it was used as a place to house the wounded soldiers.

Obnoxious right? So many pictures, so little blogging space and time. I will be back tomorrow with more. I took a total of about 600 pictures on this vacation. Thank goodness for digital photography. Oh, and the big guy in the photos is our nephew. We will call him A. He and my sister-in-law were our tour guides. We had such a great time with them. 

 

We're back

We returned home on Sunday. The rest of our trip was fantastic. We wore ourselves out though. We were busy busy busy, however we were busy all together and that is what was so great about this road trip. Not so great was the heat. 100 degree plus weather in Washington DC is not so much fun. It was stinkin hot!! We drank a lot of water. 

Anyhow. I want to recap our trip in photos. I hope you all, my dear readers, all five of you, don't mind. This blog is our family scrapbook and I want to remember this trip. So my plan is to go back and post pictures from each day. That is the plan anyway.  I already have a few posts in my draft folder that I need to publish, it is just sitting and taking the time to do so. Typical for me. I feel guilty for sitting here when there is laundry to do and bathrooms to scrub. Oh well, here goes.

Perhaps the most memorable part of the trip was when we hit the deer, or rather, when the deer hit us. We were driving along and the deer is standing out in the middle of the road. It looked like it was eating. We slowed down, changed lanes, and instead of continuing on it's merry way it darts back in front of the van. As you can see it left us a present on the passenger door. Poor dumb deer. 

Apple Days

This past Thursday we went apple and pumpkin picking. One stop shopping. Which is a good thing when you are about to drop a baby and you want to check those things off of your Autumn to do list. We went to a huge farm almost an hour away from here. It was a little commercialized but we had a great time regardless. We went with some fellow homeschoolers that we have met up here. We actually have formed our own little group. We meet twice a month. It has been great fun. It is nice to not have to go it alone. You know? Anyway, I digress. Back to the farm...

And of course my pregnant brain forgot my camera and I had to make due with the phone.

We started out in a barn where the owner of the farm talked about everything you would want to know about apples. It was very informative. After that we sampled apple doughnuts and apple cider. YUM! The kids played on their massive playground.

Mary Jane coming down the slide.

Amelia coming down the slide.

Catherine coming down the slide. John Paul went to the top and then chickened out when it was his turn. Can't say I blame him.

It really was such a pretty place. If we are ever able to get a farm up here I so badly want some apple trees. 

We picked a lot of apples. Not counting the two in John Paul's bag :0) So, Friday morning as I am looking at all of the apples I had a moment of panic. "What if I go into labor and all of these apples are left sitting here and never get used?" 

So, we went right to work. We made a quadruple batch of Crock Pot Apple Sauce, so that we could put some up in the freezer. YUM! 

We ate apples sliced.

Julia also made an apple pie. (There are definitly going to be more of those.) And while we were in the kitchen I whipped up some granola. I love homemade granola. I overcooked it a wee bit but it still turned out great. The bad thing about homemade granola is once you start eating it you just can not stop.

My kitchen smelled awesome that day. It was the perfect way to welcome in fall. All of us there working side by side. Good stuff. Now to muster up the energy to do it again with the remaining apples :0)

 

A Late Summer Nature Walk

One of the projects of our Science Curriculum is to go on a scavenger hunt. This past week we did just that. When we take the time to do this it always leaves me wondering why we don't go on these little adventures more often. It was nice and cool, and there was a lot to see. We didn't get everything checked off of the list. I told the children we will be back throughout the year and slowly, hopefully find everything on the list. We discovered some pretty wild flowers and talked about seed heads. So fun.

Do you see the well camouflaged critter?

This was my favorite wildflower. I have never seen one of these before. It is called a Spotted Touch-me- not (Spotted Jewel weed). Also formally called Impatiens capensis. Doesn't it look like a little cornucopia? 

This is the front.

A Hike

We had some beautiful weather a couple of Saturdays ago. We thought it was the perfect opportunity to get out of the house before I went stir crazy and get some fresh air. We went to a forest not to far from our home and went on a 3.5 mile hike up and down mountains. It was so much fun. The little kids were such troopers. Joe was in heaven. 

Photos by Terry

John Paul ended up riding on my back for most of the hike. The Ergo carrier is the best!! I could hardly feel him back there. He looked like he was having such a great time, doesn't he??! I think this was right before he fell asleep.

We were up pretty high. You could see downtown Louisville in the distance. 

When we arrived back at the van we had a thermos of hot chocolate waiting for us. I think we found a new family past time.