apples!

This morning I had a relatively short 12 mile long run. It went really well. I kept the pace nice and slow, and was tired but still feeling good at the end. The tiredness was mainly from all the hills I ended up running. I tried out a new loop that I really liked, but it was very hilly and I ended up with a few long climbs. Sometimes I come across a hidden gem of a back road or view, just a few blocks away from a busy road or an area I know well. Somehow for all this time I've missed out on these places! Today I ended up on a new road that runs parallel to a busy route I take almost daily. This road was quiet, shaded by trees, and just beautiful. As I rounded a bend I came across a stretch of road surrounded by nothing but leafy trees. The only sounds were birds in the trees, until I heard running water. To the left, through the trees, I spotted it. A beautiful river sparkling in the sunshine, surrounded by waving grasses. To think I've never discovered this beautiful place to run until now!

Just around the corner is another one of my favorite running spots. Doesn't this look like a little gingerbread house?

And next to it is a lily pond.

We also went apple picking this weekend.

I've been looking forward to this because I thought Celia would love it. She did! She loved seeing all the people at the orchard (and even played peek a boo with complete strangers she spotted on the other side of an apple tree, calling "Hewwo!!").

 She loved seeing the farm trucks and tractors and seeing apples on the trees. We rode to the orchard in a tractor-pulled wagon.

Pita loved seeing apples on the trees.

She wanted to walk around and pick them all by herself.

When we got home I immediately made apple crisp. We have so many apples that I need to start baking! The bag we got was deceptively small looking.

Last night I printed some pictures from our day and made Celia a story book about apple picking. Now she can read the story and talk about everything she did. She loves this book- especially the pictures of her with Mommy and Daddy! This project only took about 15 minutes, once I had the pictures and had gathered paper, glue, and a marker.

Making a little book based on an experience is a great way to promote language skills: how to tell a story using temporal markers (e.g. first, then), sequencing and describing events, answering questions about what happened, and even vocabulary. Celia learned new words like "orchard", and we used descriptive language as we talked about everything we saw. The apples were red and crunchy; the tractor was noisy (and stinky, according to Celia- lots of exhaust!), the bag of apples was heavy. You could make your own little books to go along with any activity- even something simple like going grocery shopping. For babies, the book might be single words to go with each picture. For toddlers and preschoolers it can be more of a story. Older kids can help put the pictures in the right order and write the story.

I'm taking a little break from packing everyone's lunches for tomorrow. Time to get back to that before Pita wakes up from her nap!