An Apple Picking Celebration

Since Phoenix's birthday landed on Labor Day this year, we celebrated his birthday by picking apples at Reed Valley Orchard, our annual Labor Day tradition.

 

Phoenix was a good sport about it, particularly because he had been sick the day before, and he was still sick on his birthday/Labor Day.

 

It was an odd little sickness, with no cold symptoms or intestinal issues (thank goodness), just a raging headache and a general malaise.

Clearly he wasn't faking it though, since every time he moved his head even just slightly, he cringed. I kept him hopped up on Advil, and we coddled him a bit. It was, after all, his birthday.

We picked way more apples than we should have. Yikes. I think we just got overzealous.

We all kept trying to find the perfect apple, and then when we finally realized how many we had in our bags, it was too late to put them back.

Fortunately, these are good apples, and the kids love all things apple. I've made apple sauce, an apple slab pie, three apple crisps, and more caramel dipping sauce (for the apples) than I care to admit to. Fall is definitely in full swing.

The Big One-One

Lutece turned 11 this year in what was a very low-key birthday. It was, of course, a school day, and she also had soccer practice that evening, so we ate her favorite dinner (chicken drumsticks, jasmine rice, and green beans) before soccer and her dessert of choice (triple layer brownies from this recipe, but in raspberry instead of mint) after soccer.

You may have noticed that I didn't take any "children unwrapping presents" pictures this year. I'm over that, and we've tried to keep things simple and simpler as the years go by.

She did get a birthday breakfast, but she requested crepes instead of waffles, flouting tradition. Oh my.

I can't believe she is 11 and just one year away from 12 (Young Women!). Lutece is such a wonderfully thoughtful and sweet girl (most of the time). She is becoming very responsible and is just as much her own person as ever. She is thoughtful of other people and especially kind to children younger than her. A couple of weeks ago at a Ward (Church) party, I looked around after dinner to see where she had disappeared to, and I found her sitting at the table of a new family in the Ward, chatting with their eight-year-old girl. She has always been conscientious of other people. She also loves babies and always wants to hold them and take care of them (even though she doesn't always know what to do). When we went hiking with our friends the Kotters, she kept asking if she could carry the baby in the baby backpack, which she did for as long as her little back could hold out. (Have I mentioned how strong she is? Super strong for such a tiny girl.)

She's having a difficult time in middle school right now trying to fit in and make new friends. It's been tough for her, and as much as I disliked middle school and high school, I would go back and do it all over again just to be the best friend that has her back. It's so hard to watch your kids struggle. SO HARD. Stayc tells me that she is resilient and that even if it is a horrible year, she will still be ok. I know she will . . . but I desperately hope it is not a horrible year. I love her so much.

Happy Birthday Lutece!

Three Squared

Phoenix turned nine last week, and while I realize that today is actually Lutece's birthday, I would like to focus on our (not so) little baby in this post.

As sometimes happens, Phoenix's birthday landed squarely on Labor day this year. It is always a good thing when that happens because it means a day off of school for Phoenix on his birthday, but it was particularly good this year (in a bad sort of way) because Phoenix was sick, so he got to laze about the house for the day without any repercussions. Luckily, it wasn't a stomach ailment, so he was able to enjoy our traditional birthday breakfast of waffles (chocolate), ice-cream, and fruit (raspberries). Afterward, he opened presents before we headed off for a morning of apple picking (our traditional Labor day activity). An ibuprofen helped tremendously.

The day after Phoenix's birthday, I took cupcakes into school for his class. When I asked him what kind of treat he wanted, he said "platypus cupcakes." Then he said, "or donuts." I figured this may be one of my last years making crazy cupcakes, so I opted for the first choice. Platypus cupcakes it was.

Since Phoenix decided against a birthday party with friends this year, I told him we could have a special family dinner at a restaurant. Several days later, when he was feeling better (and we found a free evening), we went out to dinner at his choice of restaurant, Suggins. It was good, but nothing beats those cupcakes. Just look at them! Totally awesome.

Red River Gorge

Labor Day weekend was a lovely three-day weekend in Kentucky, and it was also Phoenix's birthday weekend, so we tried to make the most of it. On Saturday, we tagged along with our friends the Kotters to hike Natural Bridge at Red River Gorge.

I'd prepared the kids for this day trip all week long since it was going to be a fun day. We would hike up to Natural Bridge and explore a little before heading down. Then, we planned to enjoy pizza at Miguel's Pizza before going swimming at the lodge located at the base of the trail. Super fun, right!?!

I thought so, and I think, at some point, so did the kids. Sadly, they were so dang grumpy that Saturday morning that we spent half of the hike having to discipline them for unkind (and UNacceptable) behavior.

Sleep deprivation? I have no idea, but Phoenix was annoying and Lutece was annoyed. At one point, as she was crossing over this famed natural rock structure, I saw her pass Phoenix and punch him in the chest. When I caught up with her to put her in a time-out (yes, on the top of the mountain), she told me she was just getting back at him for bonking her in the head with his backpack. Sigh. So. Much. Fun.

Needless to say, we had to separate them for a long portion of the hike, and I was a little mortified that our friends had to witness our discord (even though they claimed ignorance of any contention).

We tried to distract them with the promise of wasp nests and giant spiders.

They finally settled down a little by the end of the hike and we were able to enjoy the beautiful view of Natural Bridge at a look-out point on the way down.

At least Stayc and I were happy together.

After a good meal of pizza, we changed into swimsuits and headed for the pool, which is, as I mentioned, at the base of the trail. We've seen it on our other numerous hikes at Natural Bridge, but never actually thought of going swimming there.

It turned out to be fairly inexpensive and a wonderful end to a hot day. Not to mention the fact that the pool is located in a beautiful and peaceful setting. The outing ended much better than it began . . . and you can bet the kids got an early bedtime that night.

Blast Off!!

Phoenix and Stayc made a water bottle launcher a couple of weekends ago.

 It was HIGHLY successful (pun intended).

 You attach a bike pump to it . . .

. . . then you fill up a bottle with water. While one person holds the bottle down, the other person pumps air pressure into the launcher using the bike pump.

Then . . . you let go of the bottle.

The bottle went so high and so far that we had to retrieve it from various neighbors' yards. Once, it went over our entire two-story house and landed in our front yard.

Amazingly, no damage was done (a miracle when our kids are involved). Not surprisingly, the kids LOVED this activity (particularly Phoenix). Thank goodness Stayc is around. I would have never done an activity like this with the kids!

Artful Weekends

The kids had a couple of artful weekends as August came to a close . . . the unofficial end to summer. We attended the Woodland Art Festival and enjoyed ourselves somewhat. (One day I will just go without the kids and leisurely walk around the booths reveling in the arts and crafts without having to tell anyone to NOT touch the freakin' art.) The kids saw their favorite artist from last year, and we were so pleased to find that they had brought back our favorite art ladies from the UK Art Museum for kids' crafts. Those ladies rock.

The next Sunday, the kids pulled out the beads and macrame string we bought in China and made some lizards.

Phoenix hisses at me these days when I do something he doesn't like, like taking pictures of him. It's annoying, but I may as well document it.

Then he smiles to himself, pleased with his feral ways. I'm not sure which is more annoying . . . Lutece's frowns or Phoenix's hisses. How do other people get their children to smile for pictures?