Pine Tree Apple Orchard

We spent a gorgeous fall day at the Pine Tree Apple Orchard. We hadn't been there before - it was in such a beautiful setting! Right on a lake. We started with lunch and face painting. A kitty and puppy.

Then we did a corn maze. It was quite a long journey, but we found all the letters and figured out the puzzle.

The girls rode ponies.

Willa's was named Oreo.

And bought some of our favorite apples - Sweet Tangos! (Many of which later became apple turnovers!)

 Caramel apples finished the day.

Willa's first day on the JO team

Willa had her first practice with her gymnastics team and it was great! Her teammates were so friendly and welcoming. We had asked a lot of questions about the other team members prior to joining the team, and the head coach assured us that it was a great group of girls. She was right! Willa didn't know anyone, but everyone was so wonderful that it was an easy transition. They had her practicing cartwheels and handstands on the beam, and learning all sorts of other new things. She loved every second of it, as her picture shows!

Right after she started, her team was in a parade! The parade happened to fall on National Gymnastics Day! Willa is in the blue leotard at the bottom.

She's off to a great start!

Willa: An Update

Willa makes me laugh. She really enjoyed what I made for dinner the other night (Thai chicken curry) and she said, "Mama, if any of this fell on the floor and the dog licked it, I would still eat it, because it's so good." That's quite a compliment!

She also has been busy with the scissors. Right before school started, she gave herself a mullet on one side of her head.

She was pretty sad about it, so I assumed it was a lesson learned. 

Wrong! Right before starting with her gymnastics team, she cut off her bangs! 

She seemed pretty pleased with that decision. All scissors are now under lock and key.

Biking in the Fall

We love fall bike trips! We did the Dakota Rail Trail again this year. We biked to picnic at Gale Woods Farm, then biked to the Minnetonka Drive-In for root beer floats. It was the perfect day!

Horseback Riding Lessons

The girls love horses.  They had only ridden ponies though, and I felt they would benefit from a real lesson, so off we went to Bunker Park Stable (dressed in horse-themed clothing, of course)! The girls were beyond excited.

 

They started by meeting their horses and walking them to the arena. Jia had Mr. T and Willa had Gracie. The instructor warned us that Mr. T was not a good listener, and Jia was already quite nervous. Gracie, on the other hand, was easygoing and gentle (and as the instructor noted, "Willa's not afraid of anything!"). It wasn't initially the best match. 

Concentrating...

 

They practiced guiding the horses around posts, sitting properly, and lots of different ways to stop and go. Willa felt comfortable right away. Jia was scared at first, but was brave and did it!

Is this the look of excitement or what?

 

In the end, Jia was so proud of herself! We were too!

Guess what they want now?

Monarch Butterfly Tagging!

We took a monarch butterfly tagging course! It was fantastic. First, we picnicked and played in the park before class.

Then we drove to the Eastman nature center. We attended a seminar about monarchs and about tagging. We learned so much about these amazing creatures and their journey to Mexico! We also learned about how they are losing their habitat and that we may no longer have butterfly migrations by 2050. Jia is especially interested in this cause.

After the class, we set off with nets to find wild ones.

 

Score!

Tagged and ready to go!

We found lots of other creatures too!

Jia and I played hangman in the car on the way home and the phrase she wrote was, "Help the earth by planting milkweed." We intend to do so! This experience was declared "awesome" by one and all.

Summer Mishmash

A mishmash post of more summer activities, which included:

Taking a trip to a new-to-us nature center:

Jia writing inspirational messages in chalk:

 

The girls opening savings accounts:

Watching Star Wars for the first time. (They loved it!)

 

Celebrating Joe's birthday:

A trip to the zoo with neighbor Katarina to see giraffes:

And dinosaurs! They dutifully screamed for each one.

And Jia made a new friend at the butterfly house:

Good times!