Cider Party!

We invited friends and family for a cider making party.  Hot dogs for dinner and s'mores for dessert.  A clear night and a warm fire.  The best kind of Autumn celebration.

Pumpkin Patch

I love this farm.

Anytime is a good time for gymnastics!

My family has been going to this family-owned farm/pumpkin patch since my brothers and sister and I were little.  It's the only place that I ever remember picking pumpkins.  I love its simplicity.  There are no corn mazes or tractor rides to waste money on.  No games or hay slides to stand in line for.  Just wheelbarrows and pumpkins.  Perfect. 

We usually take a ride on the Wheatland Ferry on our way home, but today, the ferry wasn't running.  A huge disappointment.  We'll have to go back another day.  

Tomorrow, we carve.

Gingerbread Cookies

that no one will eat.  Seriously.  No one in the house likes gingerbread cookies except Jon and I.  Every year I ask myself why I continue baking something that no one likes.  I guess it's just a tradition that I'm not going to break.  Plus, it makes my house smell like fall.

A full cookie jar.  

The recipe that I used this time pretty much sucked.  After I mixed everything up (last night--the dough has to chill, you know) I could tell that the dough was way too dry and crumbly.  After chilling overnight, it was more like a lump of cement.  So here I was, standing in my kitchen surrounded by littles asking me, "When can we make cookies?  When will it be ready?  Are you ready now?  How come you're not ready?"and me unable to provide appropriate cookie dough.  I added a cup or so of water, let it sit, (maybe prayed a little) and then kneaded the hell out of it before it was pliable enough to use.  My kitchen and I were now covered with flour, but we were finally on our way.   

Ugly Apples

Bill keeps bringing home apples.  Ugly, dirty apples that fall from trees.  My fridge had gotten overrun with these apples, so I decided to try crock-pot applesauce.  Ask me tomorrow how it turned out, okay?

 A crock-pot full of apples, a cup of water, a few teaspoons of cinnamon, and a bit of sugar.  Cook until done.  Seems too good to be true.

 A break in the weather for a bike ride.

 Jack-made centerpiece.

What is that I see?!  Could it be the sun?

I'm realizing that it's been several months since I updated.  I'm not sure why it's been so long, except that maybe my non-functioning thyroid has kept me in a state of semi-consciousness for these many months.  It's my excuse for everything that goes wrong these days.  Didn't fold the laundry today?  It's because of my thyroid.  Forgot to weed the garden?  Thyroid.  Can't balance the nation's budget?  It's my thyroid.  Pluto's downgrade from planet status?  That's my thyroid too.  Feel free to borrow this excuse from me for your own purpose if you'd like.