at the pumpkin patch :: year 2

one of the things i've been looking forward to this fall is our annual trip (this is our 2nd year, but i'm thinking we need to make this an annual tradition) to the pumpkin patch. my sisters and i set a date at least a few weeks in advance, meet up, and make a day of it.

last year, we checked out a pick-your-own pumpkin location at trinity tree farm in issaquah. the place was easy to get to, and we had a great time picking out our pumpkins, sipping cider, and launching pumpkins in the pumpkin slingshot.  this year, we decided to try the pumpkin patch at oxbow farm, where we have our CSA. side note: it's pretty amazing to me that in 45 minutes, you can be out in the country, given that seattle is such a large, metropolitan area.

since the pumpkin patch at oxbow is at a working farm, the experience was a bit different in some respects, but equally fun, like last year's.  our kids were looking forward to going back and playing in the "living playground."  the gourd tunnel was a hit, again, and they had fun being able to roam and explore all the parts of the kids' farm.

added bonus (as part of their oxtober u-pick pumpkin patch season): hayrides around the farm and the house o' hay for the kids (and some adults, who shall remain nameless for their privacy and safety).  the hayride was a fun treat for the kids, and a great opportunity to take a look at the actual farm.  it was so cool to see the rows of collards and chard that we just got in our box the day before...literally farm-to-table, right?

i think the kids were amazed by the house o' hay.  they loved climbing on, jumping off, and climbing through the stacked bales of hay.  i love the simplicity behind the hay castle, and how it offers the kids opportunities for creative play and free exploration.  it was super cool, and it was hard to pry them away when it was time to pick our pumpkins.

unlike the u-pick pumpkin "patch" at trinity tree farm, the pumpkin patch at oxbow was an actual pumpkin patch.  the pumpkins were already detached, but we did have to wade through rows of pumpkin vines.  and the nice drizzle of rain, made for some muddy pumpkins, and muddy hands. this was legit pumpkin picking. ha!

and what better way to end the farm day with some wet, slippery and muddy pumpkin slinging with the pumpkin sling shot.

what a day well spent.  i loved watching all the kids play together (in the mud, even!).  i loved being able to experience simple, outdoor pleasures with the people i love.  and i loved being able to meet some of the people who have spent so much time and effort growing and tending to the food that nourishes my family.  we even got to meet the gal who packs our box every week!

the muddy boots, filthy clothes, and dirt-covered hands were so worth the sweet memories made that day at the pumpkin patch.

a taste of the farm life

last week, my sister asked me if we wanted to take a tour of a friend's farm with her and her family. how could i resist? a tour of a local farm?  heck yeah!

i get excited when we can learn more about local businesses and how we can support them.  especially when it comes to food.  whenever we can, and when our budget allows, we love supporting local farmers by sourcing as much of our produce locally through a CSA, the farmer's market or local grocery co-op.  i have learned a lot about food from participating in CSAs, and have become better aware of what foods are in season and which ones are not (i'm far from being a pro at this, but it's getting easier every year).  our whole family is also exposed to produce that may not make it on my grocery list if we hadn't joined a CSA (think fennel, fava beans and raddichio).

so, an opportunity to tour a local farm is exciting for me, because i get a chance to see where some of the fabulous local produce is coming from.  as it turns out, our farm tour was part of a bigger event put together by sno-valley tilth, an organization that connects local farmers in the snoqualmie valley to the surrounding communities and metropolitan areas.  sno-valley tilth was organizing farm tours of many of the farmers in the snoqualmie valley along with an amazing sounding farm faire and pig roast (aaah!) in the evening. coincidentally, the farm where we have our CSA share was also participating in the farm tour, so bonus for us!  this would be an opportunity to really see where some of our food actually came from.

the drive to the "country" was surprisingly short.  it took us only 45 minutes, which was only 15 minutes longer than if we were to drive to the zoo (and that's in the city). our first stop was oxbow farm, which is where we have our CSA subscription.  oxbow farm not only provides weekly veggie shares through their CSA program, but they sell their produce through a couple of farmer's markets, some area independent grocers, and supply produce to quite a few Seattle area restaurants.  they also provide educational programs for kids and put on seasonal events.

we missed the guided tour, but we were free to explore on our own.  they have a special kids' farm area where you can "guess the veg" in the children's garden, or run through a "living" tunnel made from gourd plants growing right over your head.  our kids were in heaven, and this is where we spent most of our time at oxbow.

they climbed and jumped off tree stumps, and snacked on crunchy apples and sweet strawberries they picked themselves.

there was a little picnic area placed underneath an awning of grape vines, with grapes you can pick off and eat. it felt magical to be standing right underneath it.

and there was a huge teepee like structure with some sort of bean plant growing around the poles, providing shade and made you feel as if you were really inside a tent.

there was so much imaginative play going on, and it felt good just being able to let the kids do some natural exploration on their own.

our next stop was local roots farm where we met up with my sister and family, and had the opportunity to meet the owners/farmers, siri and jason. they're a smaller farm than oxbow, but still provide amazing, quality produce through their CSA subscription, farmer's markets and to many Seattle area restaurants.
  

the kids had a blast hanging out with their cousins and new friend, siri and jason's sweet little boy, and i gained a greater appreciation for the work that these farmers do to provide food for us to eat. it was a privilege to get a small glimpse of what life is like for them, and thankful that they are willing to share what they do with us.

it was a saturday well spent.  full of learning, fun, and new discoveries.

RE POST: black friday and winterfest sensory overload

i thought it fitting to re-post this today.  it's that time of year again for our family.  i am mentally preparing myself for the onset of THE most exhausting time of year for me and especially my husband. the time of year where our kids will probably see him 1 day out of the week for the 2-3 weeks leading up to christmas.  where 12 hour workdays turn into 15-16 hour workdays for my husband.  thinking about it makes me look forward to christmas day even more...where we can all finally be re-united, chill and celebrate jesus.

side note: winterfest is this saturday.  if you've never gone, it's worth checking out at least once.  also many cleveland handmade artists will be there selling some of their awesome stuff from 3-7 p.m.

originally posted on 05 december 2011.
 
 
much like years past, black friday for us does not involve getting up in the wee hours of the morning (or nowadays it's more like staying up until the clock strikes 12).  well, except for my husband who has to work the day after thanksgiving.

we are not fans of the whole black friday thing anyway.  the madness and long lines just to save some money?  don't get me wrong, i'm all for living frugally and managing your money wisely, but i don't think it's worth the craziness of black friday.  and it makes me cringe a little thinking about what that whole day represents (at least to us).

i just don't see how i can support a shopping day where people fight each other for the same item to the point of injury (or ignoring someone who needed help).  it's appalling.  and what about the workers at these big box retailers?  you have some stores opening up at midnight or even on thanksgiving day.  some of these people are missing out on family time just so that they can serve the needs of consumers hunting for bargains on things they probably can live without?  i know what that's like.  i'm married to a man who has a job where the busiest time of year is this time of year.  the weeks before christmas mean longer hours (for the same pay).  the days leading up to christmas day means our kids don't see him at all (one day he was at work at 5 a.m. and didn't get home until almost 9 p.m.), and i am left with an exhausted husband.  we have dealt with this every year for the past 8 or 9 years, and i can't say that i've gotten used to it.  i've learned to expect the worst in december, but it doesn't get any easier.  while i am thankful that he has a job, and that the busy season means money coming in for his company (which means he can continue to get paid), it's hard to find joy in the reason why he's busy: consumers doing what they do best.

maybe instead spending money on more stuff, we learn to live with less.  maybe instead of buying the xbox or flat screen TV at a huge discount, save your money and wait for the item to go on sale at another time of year.  or maybe consider not getting it and be content with that smaller TV or the more dated game system.  or buy used and create less waste.  what do our actions represent on black friday when we choose to participate in all that madness?  what exactly are we supporting?  i'm not saying you shouldn't go shopping at all, but maybe re-examine the intention behind choosing to shop on that particular day.

*****

so what did we do on black friday?  well, we did spend a little money.  but instead of heading out to the chain stores at midnight and fighting the crowds we hit the local shops.  as i mentioned here, room service had their made in the 216 holiday shoppe opening that night so that's where we headed.

like years past, i have never been disappointed at the quality and variety this store has to offer.  their holiday shoppe always features a nice selection of local artists, from clothing, jewelry and other accessories to paper goods and kids' toys.

then we hopped over next door to say hello at another local favorite, salty not sweet.  i found thee perfect gift for someone.  and i mean perfect (at least in my opinion).  and it worked out because i didn't have a clue yet what to do for this particular recipient.  i'm just a little excited over the find.  just a little.

the following day, we decided to check out winterfest in downtown cleveland after aaron got off work.  when we went last year, we had a great experience checking out the gingerbread homes and tooling around downtown that we figured we'd try that again this year.  note to self, if we go downtown for winterfest again we need to go in the morning or early afternoon.  by the time we arrived, the streets were blocked off and there were TONS of people.  tower city was packed.  people spilled out into public square.  there were people, people and more people.

oh yeah, and we saw some lights, and i think some gingerbread houses and more people.  while it's fantastic to see such a great turnout for cleveland's tree lighting event, being crammed like sardines and worrying that my little ones are going to be swept away by a sea of people is not my idea of fun.

it was definitely one of those experiences where you were glad to be able to go do it once (so that you could say that you did go), but probably won't do again in the future.  as emma so eloquently stated about her winterfest experience (and i think she spoke for all of us): "i'm ready to go home."

so we did.

wordless wednesday::autumn walk

more wordless wednesday here, here and here.

wordless wednesday::impromptu

sometimes, all you need is a little impromptu dip in the river to turn a good day into a great day.

more wordless wednesday here, here and here

keeping things simple

well, i thought i was doing pretty good at blogging and then all of a sudden i kind of hit a wall.

there have been a few posts in the works in my head, but finding time to write it all down (with accompanying photos, of course) in a way that is cohesive and clear has not been easy.

and my biggest excuse?  nesting (and we really have just had a busy couple of weeks...meetings, block party, 4th of july...).

at least i think it's nesting.  i've been reading through the book, organized simplicity by tsh of simple mom, the past couple of weeks, and i think it kicked the whole 3rd trimester nesting mode into high gear for a bit.  the book is wonderfully written.  simple, straight-forward advice about simple living and your stuff.

most of the methods she writes in her book, we are already implementing as a family, but her thoughts on simple living are encouraging and inspirational.  the whole book pretty much embodies our own views on simplicity and simple living.

one of my favorite points in the book is the idea of valuing relationships over stuff (and by "stuff" it includes material things, over-scheduling, TV, work, etc.) and living with intentionality.  which is more important to you?  the more stuff you have, the more things you have to take care of, clean-up, etc.  does that take away time from investing in a relationship (or relationships)?  how does the whole relationship vs. stuff reflect on your children?  what are you investing your time in?  and why?

aaron and i have embraced the whole idea of having minimal "stuff" and doing our best to be more intentional about our choices.  but one of the challenging parts is keeping the accumulation of our physical stuff under control.  especially when you have 4 kids.  i know for us, our home environment becomes very stressful when we begin to find that our stuff is taking over our home and our lives.  there's more to clean.  more to put away.  more energy you need to expend to keep your stuff under control.  it's distracting and suffocating.

when my husband spends more time during the week at work than at home, our time together as a family (and as a couple) is very, very valuable.  and the last thing i want to be doing is spending our free time together catching up on cleaning, putting away, fixing up, etc.

anyway.  back to the whole nesting thing.  baby is coming in about 1 month and i have had this underlying sense of urgency in cleaning, organizing and simplifying.  reading that book really didn't help.

so, i've been organizing things, throwing things out, cleaning, giving things away, and more cleaning...

not to mention we have to schedule house painting, chimney and gutter repair, and tie up loose ends before the baby comes.  and i kind of want to make some clothes for the baby since we have hardly any newborn/infant items at the moment.

then there's food prep.  we have been transitioning into a more traditional diet over the past few months (i'll have to save this for another post) and there's a number of grain-related food items i'd like to make and freeze before the baby comes.  but the grain prep takes time.  and then when i do try to make an extra batch to freeze, there isn't really a whole lot left to freeze because it tastes so good who wants to save it for later?

so there you have it.  so much for simple living, huh?

bob evans farm festival

if you are an ohioan, you would know that bob evans is a fairly well known chain around here, serving country-style american fare and comfort-type foods.  now, aaron and i are not big supporters of major chain restaurants, preferring local eateries if we do dine out.  in fact, we don't really go to bob evans much...probably only once or twice a year.  BUT bob evans does hold a special place in our hearts, especially when it used to not be so easily accessible for us.

i was first introduced to bob evans when we were still living in seattle.  any time we would take a trip to ohio, eating at a bob evans was a must, and aaron raved about their biscuits and sausage gravy (it is quite tasty).  of course, now that we can go to one at any time, we actually don't go there very often.  isn't that always the case?

so last week i mentioned that we got invited to check out bob evans' annual farm festival down at the bob evans farm.  not only would it be a fun learning opportunity for the kids, but the possibility of having full access to their biscuits and sausage gravy sealed the deal.
we packed everyone (sans dog) into the car and began the 4-hour-drive-that-turned-into-5 last friday.  i will say that the drive with 3 kids in the car (one being a teenager) can get a little hairy, but we all survived.  on a side note, we made a lunch stop at a wendy's on the way down (it was either that or a mcdonalds...lots of options when you're in the middle of nowhere) and got the "you must not be from around here" look.  especially aaron...the gal at the wendy's counter could not pry her eyes away from his tattoos.  too bad i wasn't able to capture that look.  ha, ha!  we definitely stuck out like a sore thumb!

we spent the last half of friday and the first half of saturday checking out the farm activities.  it was surprisingly hot for this time of year, but i'll take that over cold and rainy any day.  the property is huge, and the event attracted a lot of people.  

we saw mr. hank (who had the most awesome mustache ever) shear a very squirmy sheep.  trying to shear all that fleece in one piece was no easy task.

He has been doing this since the first farm festival 40 years ago.

serious mustache awesomeness.

emma had the opportunity to milk a cow during the cow milking demonstration by laurel valley creamery.  i highly encourage you to take some time to go through their site and watch this video...great information!  i think aaron would have liked to milk the cow too, but he lovingly sacrificed the chance for his daugther (how sweet). 

"pull and twist"

gibson was extremely fascinated with the horses and couldn't get enough of them.  we walked through the rio valley stables (he really liked being picked up and getting close to the horses), and had to stop and watch when the drill team put on their show.

when we arrived saturday morning, we were greeted with some lively music accompanying a bunch of square dancing tractors.  yes.  square dancing tractors, performed by the delaware county tractor square dancers.  it was a sight to see.

we stopped by the soap making station, smelling and touching the lye soap samples and observing some of the tools and ingredients used to make it.

 

mouth-watering?

we were originally supposed to participate in a soap making demonstration, but maybe the demonstrator was on a lunch break?  so instead of making soap, emma got to try her hand at washing clothes the old-fashioned way.  it seemed like a long process just to get clothes clean and it made me VERY thankful for my washer and dryer!

 

crank it

there were plenty of other highlights during our time at the farm festival, but i will let the pictures tell you the rest of our adventure (and for the complete photo experience make sure to go here).

 

an exciting discovery by your 216 coffee snobs: superb coffee by this ohio micro-roaster!

super biscuit cutter at the homestead museum...how do i get one of these?

sausage making contraptions

family covered-wagon ride...an emma favorite.

simple entertainment (and physics).  take THAT nintendo DSi!

mr. beanie boy: "are you one of those bloggers?" me: "umm...yes." 
mr. bb: "i've heard of loggers, but i've never heard of bloggers." ha.

despite the drive, a rather nasty melt down saturday by our drama queen, and the occasional nagging from a certain teenage boy it was quite an enjoyable time.  this was our first real road-trip with the whole family in quite a long time (the last time was the drive from seattle to cleveland when we only had ty).  i think the whole experience will surely make for some wonderful (and amusing) family memories.

**a HUGE thank you to blake at brunner and bob evans for inviting us to the event and for coordinating the food, lodging and activities for the weekend!  we had so much fun!  and you don't have to wait until next year to visit the farm...they're open year round.  take a little road trip, eat some biscuits and sausage gravy and enjoy some time down on the farm.**