Cain's Apple Orchard

Cain's Orchard is located in Hixton, Wisconsin. It is right off of I-94 and is one of the best orchard's we have ever been too. We picked Honeygold and McIntosh apples this year.  We also treated ourselves to grapes. They grow Van Buren Grapes, we loved them!

http://www.cainsorchard.com/

Cain's Orchard, located in Hixton, Wisconsin off of I-94

The apple pickers.

"Mom, I think I found something!" says Atticus

A bird nest.

Cain's Orchard also provides hiking trails. We took the one that goes up a big hill and over looks I-94.

You may recognize this sign from traveling on I-94.

Yum! We had a wonderful day. We picked apples and grapes. We love to shop the gift store too. They have Danish items for sale. Fun candy from Germany and other European countries. It is a great place and well worth the drive for us.

Enjoy the weekend.

Sam's rock band! Post by Sam

I was having fun with my LEGOS. I created a rock concert. Guitars, drums and the lead singer with a microphone. Of course all the people having fun. My parents treated us to a Toby Mac - Skillet Concert last November. It was so much fun! Jesus Freak is one of my favorite songs by Toby Mac.

Ukraine

The Isolator Kids...and how do you break the ice? If you have read my past Ukraine posts, I explained the Isolator Kids are the kids right off the street. Shaved heads...lice check...wild...due to street life. So how do you break the ice? I brought sidewalk chalk. It did not matter if the kids were 4 or 16 they were interested in it. Stickers as well, some had never seen such things. Slowly they started to come and look us over. It was a little scary, especially when one tried to steal my camera out of my back pocket. You learned to say NO aggressively to the Isolator Kids. You had to or they knew they could intimidate you. As time went on, they wanted to talk. I only know a bit of Russian. We had one translator...she did her best getting around to us to help us carry on conversations.

Of course a soccer ball helps. Soccer is Football in Ukraine...and they are good! They all wanted to see if they could beat the American Boys! They did...our boys did a great job. I was so proud of the group of California Teens I went with.

Dasha, our little girl we loved so much. She took the longest to break the ice. She wanted everything we had, but was scared of us at first. Of course a little girl like this breaks your heart when you have to leave to go home. She is looking at you with tears in her eyes. I just prayed she had a great two weeks while we were there, and that we planted a seed.

American Games...we brought as many as we could. We took them out of the box and even tore some of them apart and re-built them once we got to the shelter. We brought so many items for the kids. So you will see me wearing the same shirt in many photos. :-) We brought supplies for them and a few clothes for us.

A bible story and song. I love the smiles! The young lady in the pink shorts with the dark sandals was our translator, Natasha. She was very will with cancer...she was one of the young children caught up in the fallout.

Crafts! The big hit. The kids loved doing crafts. It was so much fun for us to do them. Even the wildest kids would settle down to do a craft. It was great. On our last day, the kids began to give us the creations they made, as gifts to us, to say Thank You. I took a few, but wanted them to keep them. Tears streaming down our faces and we hugged good bye.

More to come...stay tuned.

A is for Autumn

A is for Autumn - blazing colors so bright. Cider mills, pumpkins and fires at night.

Homemade Power Bars

Fall is beginning to set in. Going into the woods for a fall hike, looking at all the colors is one of our favorite things to do. Of course, you get hungry when you hike. You just might want to try our Homemade Power Bars.

Gather

3/4 cups of honey

1 cup chunky peanut butter

3 cups whole oats

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup shelled sunflower seeds

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Optional raisins, dried cranberries

Go

Combine honey and peanut butter in a medium saucepan. Heat on low until runny and mixed well.

Remove from heat and stir in oats, vanilla, sunflower seeds and dried fruit.

Add chocolate chips mix well

Pour mixture into greased 13-by-9 inch baking pan

Refrigerated until hardened

Slice into bars and store in a cool, dry place

ENJOY!

Harvest Time

It is that time. We are finishing the harvest of 2011.

The last picking of beans.

Pressure Cooker busy for another season.

Vegetable Soup

Strawberry Peach Jam

Yum, Yum all ready for winter.

Tour of South Dakota State Capitol, Pierre

My favorite part of the tour was looking at the First Lady Gown Collection. Each case shows a replica of the gown worn to the Inaugural Ball by the First Lady when her spouse or brother was elected Governor. Often times, the replica is made from the exact material worn by the First Lady.

I had so much fun. I had the boys guess which was my favorite.

Pierre, South Dakota

South Dakota gained state hood November 11, 1889. Pierre, is the second least populated Capitol. Montpelier, Vermont is number one. We found the city to be wonderful. The people to be one of the most friendly places we have ever visited!

We toured the Capitol grounds in the evening. It was beautiful. I will have a post just on the grounds coming up. I loved this photo Jeremy took of the Capitol and the sunset.

We toured the inside of the building in the morning. 

Looking up into the dome.

A young legislator?

Craft Time

Supplies

Canvas 

Flat marble stones

Paint

Hot glue

Paint the background color first.

Decide on a design using the marbles. I did a flower. Hot glue the marbles as you like. Paint the marbles and the rest of the canvas.

I had a lot of fun doing this craft with a young lady. I hung the paintings in our studio. I like the first one the best. Have fun and let me know if you give this a try.

New Hobby...Future Business???

Ice Cream

 My new hobby, making ice cream.

I have wanted an ice creamer maker for a long time. I saved up and got one this late summer. I have had a great time making ice cream. I have made Peanut Butter for Jeremy. Peach, which is pictured above and we served it at my Grandmas Birthday party. This weekend I made Butter Pecan. I love it! They boys think I should open my own ice cream shop.

Mmmmm...I am thinking about it. :-)