Making apple Apple Pie

Newest activity for our little preschool co-op - making Apple Pies - in apples!!
Surprising development at the end of this was that Mr 3.5 ate all bar 1/4 of his apple pie (and all the pastry, which wasn't so surprising). Because I enjoy these things, I took a section shot showing how it worked.
Note to people who are taking notes and thinking of trying this:
Apples need to be in about an inch of water, and not touching the side of the dish. Middle was tinned apple, which can be bought here.
I think they were cooked for about 30-45 mins at 350F.

Its Starting!!

Excited here, because although we're still getting hot weather, it is definitely cooling down, and the leaves have started changing. At first I put it down to a few storms that had gone through, I assumed the trees were just shaking off some old leaves that had stuck around from last fall. But no, I looked up today, and you can clearly see the touches of yellow.
The thing that really makes sweltering in 90% humidity worthwhile, is the joy and beauty of fall, and the hope of a few good snow falls in winter (I'll just settle for even one good storm, but my dream is getting snowed in for a couple of days).
The down side of winter is arguing with kids who don't want to put their gloves and beanies on because they're warm inside a fully heated house.

And this is the Belt Filter Press...

This is what you do after a sight visit when dinner is slow and painful... show your kids the photos. They really enjoyed seeing "Dad's work". In fact, the baby worked himself into tears over the possibility that he might not get to go see dads work (and all the diggers, and interesting equipment).

School photos in a consumer society

Someone at the bus stop this morning asked why we got school photos, and I had to stop and wonder. Just why do we get school photos in a digital age where I take 2-3 photos most days? Why do I need the slightly awkward smiling at a stranger studio photo?
Here, you can buy a school photo printed on a pillow case, or a 40 page journal notebook (with the photo in colour on the front and in black and white as a background on every page!), just to name a few options.

Navy Football (with kids)

We succumbed and took the kids to a football game. I was nervous about the use of the canon for noise during the match (when Navy scored, when Navy kicked off etc), and also the length of the game.
It was a clear, sunny, increasingly hot and sweaty day. aided by hot dogs and cups of ice, we got to the third quarter, but then had to go, as the kids were sick of trying to see where the ball was, or make sense of the game. And the key to explaining the canon? It was a noise making canon...silly us. the issue today was the possibility of bullets/shrapnel, not the noise.
I didn't find I got to enjoy the game as much as last time, partly because of the sun, heat, and lack of sunglasses (yes, we put on sunscreen, but forgot to take the bottle for reapplication...) and also because in addition to my questions about the game, I was fielding all the other questions, so it was difficult to keep track of play.
The other thing was, the noise was inescapable. There was no silence. It felt like a continuous stream of (loud) music or advertisements was coming out. It all just was a little too loud and thumping. Might have been where our seats were? The game is televised, so watching the game live, there are all these random stops where the players are literally standing around, while we wait for the TV man to signal the start. Just seems a bit crazy really. So the game doesn't flow much anyway.

More activities with big boxes

This box has been a late summer bonus. As you can see, we bought a lawnmower. The box is a 'cage' (indoor kennel) for the 'dogs' (and 'cats') that live here (we thought we were out of the dog and cat phase, but obviously not. In the same way that bath has become unfashionable because the older one doesn't feel like it, being a dog or a cat (or both, we're not fussy with details) is fashionable because the younger one is obsessed.).
Also playing pop goes the weasel, or the obscure favourite, hiding in it (both of them) giggling furiously when mum and dad come home from work.

And then the train got pulled up out of retirement from the basement, and isn't it convenient that the cage clicks right on mum?! And ahh, the joys of a loungeroom full of boxes.

Summer

I saw the still of late summer this last week. It was 88-90F most days, leading to the most humid still, hazy day on Wednesday. Happened to be the day I was walking down the highway to an appointment with the kids... Lots of sweat involved. This is the view on the way into town.
The earth is tired, the trees are finished growing, and some leaves are starting to turn. The cicadas are nearly done, the grass is browning off.