Things are settling down around here. The new school schedule is setting in and most nights we are successful in having everyone to bed before 8! I have been trying to make the most of the last couple of farmer's markets of the year. Two weeks ago I bought a flat of strawberries and canned a bunch of strawberry jam. Last week Micah and I decided to get 30lbs of tomatoes and make tomato sauce to freeze for the winter.
Here is Micah hard at work with the tomatoes:
He wanted to take a picture of me, I think he did a pretty good job...you can actually see my face and the big red pot of tomato sauce in the background!
Ella is getting to the end of her soccer season, she has 3 games to go. We don't keep score at this age, but I can tell you that we are about dead even. We win some and we lose some, but it is always VERY entertaining! Here is Ella during a game:
We had Stephanie up last weekend to visit (I have NO pictures of her!). She played paparazzi while I coached the girls:
Ella running drills:
Me and my girls:
Ella dribbling:
Micah came to the game on Friday, but he refused to put on clothes or get out of the car. He spent the hour sitting in the car naked eating goldfish (hey sometimes you gotta let them win the battle too!). Good thing there are parking spots right next to the field so we could keep an eye on him. Here is the naked boy:
Today was Ella's last riding lesson of the season. She loves her days with Georgie, but is excited for a little break to get ready for ski season. She always gets to brush George and saddle him before riding. Here she is brushing him:
Then she walks him out into the arena:

Doing her around the worlds, she spins herself around in the saddle. She does these while George is walking now:
Hawley has her do all sorts of centering activities when she first gets there. Here she is stretching back in her saddle:
It is the end of her second summer of lessons and she is finally in bridle all by herself! She loves getting to steer George all around on her own. Here she is with her reins:
The little cowgirl:
A good shot of George:
More steering:
Big left turn:
Filling George's water at the end of her ride:

I am so proud of Ella and her riding, she has come a long way. She speaks right up to tell that big horse what to do! It is a lot of fun to watch...

A weekend at Dixie

This weekend we got a last minute invitation to go to our friend Kristin's ranch north of here. The ranch is an hour and a half north, by Frenchman Lake in the Dixie Valley. It is a beautiful house built on 114 acres in the 1980s, completely off the grid, all solar power, no phones, no cell phones, no tv. The perfect place to take the kids to unplug for the weekend. The ranch is magic for the kids, they have so much fun!

Here they are the first morning going to check for eggs in the chicken house:

Micah, Hayden, Ella and Parker; no eggs this morning, but we did get one on Sunday morning!
Walking down to the pond for a morning adventure:
Playing on the rocks down by the pond:

The amazing Dixie Valley in the morning with the steam coming off the pond:
Looking for critters in the pond:
Parker and Hayden in the tent:
All four of the kids got along so well all weekend. At first they would come to us a lot looking for things to do, but after a while they bounce from one thing to the next and find their own fun. Sometimes they traveled in a group and sometimes they broke it up for some alone time. Lots of time on the swingset and up in the tree house. Then it was back to the bunk room to goof around. It is amazing to watch what kids will come up with when left to themselves to play. Here they are on the front lawn playing with bean bags:

The ranch:
The garden where we picked our lettuces and herbs for our meals:
Getting dirty on the side of the house:
Nothing like sliding in the dirt:
Dirty kids = having fun!

On our first hike to Moon Rocks:
We made it to the first level of Moon Rocks!
Parker and Ella at the top of Moon Rocks:
All the kids at the top of Moons Rocks, with the valley below:
Parker and Ella climbing out to the edge, making us moms very nervous:

Pals Micah and Hayden heading back down without us:
Time for a bath after all that fun:
Goofy faces!
Warm and cozy in their jammies, snuggled up on the couch after the bath. Still making goofy faces:
Making pizza:

Out back there is a firepit, so we had a Saturday night marshmallow roast:
Micah, Parker, Ella and Hayden all ready with their sticks:
Roasting:
The next day we hiked back up to Moon Rocks and took the long way through the meadow back home. With the help of the self timer we got a group picture:

A weekend in a beautiful place with no distractions, and the kids running around as they please, it was the perfect weekend.

Last weekend we got to go to a Harvest Festival at the farm that we get our CSA box of veggies from every week. It was such an honor to meet the people who grow our food and see first hand where it comes from. We drove an hour and a half down to Nevada City, North on HWY 49 across the Yuba river and up on "the ridge" as they call it to Mountain Bounty Farm, http://www.mountainbounty.com/. The farm was small and beautiful, everything you imagine that a local, small, organic farm would be. They had a bluegrass band, great food, a salsa contest and a pepper eating contest. It was a lot of fun.

The kids even got their own farm tour. Here are the kids on their tour harvesting cucumbers:

Ella with her cucumber:
Walking through rows of sweet peppers and eggplant:
Ella and her sweet pepper:
Cliff and Micah harvesting theirs:
Vines of the most amazing cherry tomatoes I have ever eaten:
Micah and Cliff enjoying the bounty, the kids ate these up like they were candy!
Ella on the pitchfork harvesting carrots, digging in:
Pulling it back:
a little further:

Bingo! a bundle of carrots!
Ella with her carrots, and the "octopus" carrot, it had 3 legs!
John Tecklin, the guy who makes it all happen. We call him "Farmer John" at our house and like to talk about how good his veggies are:
The kids on the haystack castle:
The fields:

and fields
and fields of yummy goodness
Here is a shot of the homebase for the party.
Someone brought face paints:

Great time on the farm!