Apple Annie's

Another family portrait, courtesy of Apple Annie's apple orchard:

Rachel has this book that she enjoys reading off and on:
Strawberry Shortcake and friends go pick apples at the apple orchard for a field trip. So when we told her we were going to Apple Annie's Orchard to pick some apples she was very excited. "We're going on a field trip!"

We got some delicious apples, asian pears, and peaches. Rachel helped a little with the picking:

And a lot with the "sampling":

They had some tasty fruit there. And we had a fun day together.

Rachel also got to make a rope. These men had this thing set up with various strands of rope, and Rachel cranked the lever over and over and over (with a little help once she got tired) until she had made her very own jump rope.

Of course the stairs and the balcony outside the upstairs gift shop were about as big of a hit as the apple picking itself.

It was a beautiful day (not quite fall weather, but I think it stayed under 90 degrees until we were in our car on the way back home, and that's good enough). A fun way to spend a Saturday morning, for sure.

Pumpkin patch

Last year Apple Annie's Pumpkin Patch was such a hit that we decided to go back this year. It was a good time to go--the first weekend or the pumpkin festival, and still in September, so it was not crowded at all since people don't start thinking about pumpkins until October. Rachel got to pretend to drive the tractor while we waited for the hay ride.

We were the only ones on the hay ride on the way out. On the way back a group of girl scouts joined us, so it wasn't so quiet.

Grandma Knight came along for the fun, too.

Last year all there was was dead vines and pumpkins. This year all the plants were still alive, so we had to kind of hunt under the leaves to find the perfect pumpkin.

Rachel helped Dad cut her pumpkin off the vine.

Hugging her pumpkin:

Last night before bed she had to give her pumpkin a hug goodnight. She loves her pumpkin, I guess.

Here's another attempt at a family picture. If only we had taken off our sunglasses.

If you can't tell, Rachel had a blast picking her pumpkin and riding on the hay ride. But after the short trip she was sooooo ready to move on to the next thing. So off we went to the apple orchard.

Caterpillars

I'm not sure if we've become more boring lately, or if I'm just more lazy, but I haven't been all that on top of keeping up the blog. I realize this when it's almost the end of the month and there's only been 2 posts all month. Oh well. I'll add a few posts tonight to bring it all up to par. :)

Last week we decided to try for a family picture after church. Rachel only lasted so long (or so short), so this was the best we got. Closed eyes, but at least it captures her cheesy personality.

I found a caterpillar out in our garden on Thursday and brought it in and put it in a box for Rachel to watch. She was in love. We got rid of him that night after she went to bed. Then Friday I was out in the garden again (a very rare occurence for me to be out in the garden twice in one week! I'm a bit of a neglectful gardener--once the seeds are planted my job is done for the most part.) and I found 5 caterpillars!!! The stinkin' bugs are trying to eat all of our pepper plants. Is it okay to teach a 2-year-old how to use a BB gun to shoot at butterflies? ;)
At least Rachel got some joy out of them. I got rid of the first one, but she saw the second one, so from there on out we had to keep them all. Rachel helped carry this one inside:

She would sit for long periods of time watching the caterpillars, pointing out their poop, and checking on them every time she came into the kitchen and saw their box again.

Her favorite thing to tell me: "I like to pet caterpillars!"

After Rachel went to bed Friday night Jake and I were watching a movie and Jake noticed one of the caterpillars who had managed to escape and was booking it across the living room floor, leaving a line of slime all the way from the kitchen table, a good 30+ feet. It had crawled to the end of one of the stems, which tipped with its weight and allowed him to escape. Luckily the other 3 were all still hanging out in the box. They didn't get to stay in the house much longer after that. At least Rachel had a couple of days of caterpillar fun. And hopefully they're all gone from my garden (if I don't go out to look, there aren't any there, right?).

Rachel funnies

I try to remember some of the funny things Rachel says, but unfortunately don't remember to record most of them before I forget. Here are a few I can remember at the moment:

While eating apple slices with peanut butter: "I am in peanut butter heaven!"

A few weeks ago Rachel had a runny nose. The next morning she woke up with a hoarse voice. She came into the kitchen where Jake and I were eating breakfast very distressed about the fact that she couldn't talk and announced squeakily: "I can't speak english or spanish!" I told her that she had a hoarse voice. She responded, "I'm not a horse!" She was much more content to be called a mouse with a squeaky mouse voice, but later changed her mind and said that she had a little kitty voice.

Rachel has lately taken to using words she doesn't really know the meaning of, but happens to use them correctly most of the time. The other day we had 4 caterpillars we found in our garden (the pests!!) in a box and Rachel was telling Grandma Knight about them. Grandma asked if they were alive. Rachel responded, "No, they're just ordinary." She used "ordinary" a couple more times in the conversation, though I'm pretty sure she doesn't have a clue as to what that means. Another favorite is "perhaps." She starts many a sentance with "perhaps." "Perhaps I am Rachel." "Perhaps I can eat some candy corn." It sounds much too grown up for a little girl. But it's pretty funny.

We got the spirit! We're hot!

Grandma Knight got Rachel a U of A cheerleader outfit for her birthday, but apparently it was too cute to wait to give it to her (she did this last year, too with another toy--I think she needs to wait until 2 days before the birthday to go birthday shopping:). Rachel decided to put it on and got out her BYU pom poms (we're loyal, even if my Mom's blood is Arizona red, not BYU blue, like ours). Apparently the hanger it was on is part of the outfit, too. :)
If you haven't seen this PSA, you might get a kick out of it:


Rachel did her own version. Actually Jake and Rachel did it together first, but he wouldn't let me post that video for the world to see. But if you want to stop by I'll give you a private screening of his cheerleading debut. :)

Children's Museum

A couple of weeks ago we took advantage of "Monsoon Mondays" at the Children's Museum where they had $2 admission and headed over with Grandma Knight to check it out. Rachel had a ball.

She was the train driver and took us on a train ride.

She always loves a magnifying glass, so finding one at the doctor center was a big hit. And of course she loves bossing us around, as the doctor. (Really she just loves bossing us around, but putting on a doctor's jacket makes it more fun.)

One of her FAVORITE parts (besides the jungle room, which I didn't get a picture of) was the vetrinarian's office.
She got all the dogs out to give them a bath, and put them all back in one cage to have a nap together. And had a bit of a hard time sharing one of the 15 animals when another little boy came in to play.

They had this green screen up with music going so you could dance in front of the camera and be projected with a dance class, kind of like the weather man's blue screen that they superimpose weather maps on. Rachel boogied. And she got me to boogie a little, too. :)

Rachel and Grandma went on a little motorcycle ride on the police motorcycle.

Then Rachel got ready to fight fires. Though the jacket was a bit too heavy for her liking.

Rachel was excited to get to drive the fire truck. See her look of joy?

She and another kid put on a puppet show for us. The kids big sister hid behind a curtain and narrated for us. At one point the other kid tried using one puppet to take off the other firemen's hat, so she continued the narration: "Then Johnny bit off his friend's hat and tried to eat it." It was an entertaining puppet show.

Rachel had so much fun there and could have spent hours upon hours there. I thought about getting a year's pass, but they're pretty expendy, so I think we'll just wait until the next $2 day to go again.