Field Trip to the Children's Museum

I'm only a few days late posting this, I'm blaming it on having to download pictures (never on not being able to get my butt in gear!)

Friday, my hubby, took the day off, so we could have a family day.  (Hurray!) 

We contemplated taking the kids to a matinee movie, but there wasn't anything we wanted to watch or that I thought was appropriate for our kids. (I'm pretty strict about what I let them watch regarding rating and quality.)

Thanks to Grandpa, we knew that IHOP was having their "scary face pancakes" all day.  So, the kids got their free breakfasts.  Bob and I each ordered a breakfast with some extra sausage or ham and shared with the kids.

Bug's requirement of eating at a restaurant. Check.

Next, we headed to the Building for Kids, which is Appleton's Children's Museum!  Thanks to my sister-in-law, Bonnie, who suggested it and asked us to check it out for her.

We ALL had a blast!  We were there for just over two hours (could have spent more time, but I couldn't figure out how to get into the parking garage and the parking meter only gave us 2 hours...I found the entrance to the parking garage after we left....)  The kids played solid for those two hours.  I think Bob and I had just as much fun watching them as they did playing.  I took a TON of pictures.

2-story treehouse with net bridges connecting the branches

Fixit playing in the giant garden

Bug & K have the "whole world" in their hands

Isn't this COOOOOL!?  Bug is sliding down the aorta!

K is peddling to light a street lamp, that I forgot to take a picture of.

Even a fire engine!

You have to be serious when you're heading to a fire.

Then, there was the WATER ROOM!  I think we spent half hour in there.  They even provide rain coats for the kids to wear, otherwise they would be SOAKED!

What a great day.  And as a total side effect, I think we all recharged our batteries.

It Was Not Meant To Be (With Witnesses)

K didn't have school today or the rest of the week and Bug doesn't have school  the rest of the week.  I'm hoping we're able to get some good family time in doing crafty things and whatever we feel like.

Today, K, Fixit, and I took the new van (new to us, 2002 doesn't rank as new in anyone's book) and headed to the grocery store.  Woo Hoo! Field Trip!  They were suitably impressed with the new wheels.




This afternoon, Bug came into the house ALL EXCITED!  Riding her bike as a two-wheeler has been the bane of her existance ever since the beginning of summer.  She decided that she was fine on her training wheels and DIDN'T NEED to ride it as a two-wheeler.  That is, until today, she told me that she could ride it and I HAD to come see.

I figured this was a photo op waiting to happen.  Here's what happened:

Getting ready...

Getting set.......

We never did achieve GO!



I'm pretty sure it was just stage fright and the performing this daring feat in front of a live audience.  So, after she gets over her mad at not being able to do it again, I'll have to start lurking by the bathroom window to see if I can witness this act daring act of survival.

Making Apple Cider at Grandma and Grandpa's House

Fixit

Fixit and I headed out early this morning, right after putting Bug on the bus, and went on a field trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  We were heading over there to help with apple cider.  We had to try out Grandpa's new setup for grinding the apples to get more cider out squeezed from the apples.

Dad's slick new set-up for grinding the apples

Dad bought a brand new garbage disposal, which he installed in a board along with an electrical on/off switch.  Mom and I washed and quartered the apples.  Then, Dad and I took turns manning the disposal and shoving apples through with the push stick.  The apples get ground up and then exit the disposal through the white hose into the bucket.

It really turned the apples into smoosh, but it took quite a bit of work for the disposal to chop through the big apples.  Next time we do more apples, we're going to run the apples through Dad's original apple chopper for his cider press, then we're going to run them through the disposal.  It shoudl be a lot quicker, even though we're adding a step.

Dad called to tell me that he was tired.  Fixit and I were there for 3 hours this morning, and I was tired, too.

Mom getting ready to wash some apples so we can quarter them

The hydraulic press to squeeze the cider from the apple mash

 After the disposal turned the apples into itty-bitty little pieces, we put the mash into clean muslin squares in the pressing rack.  We put in three saucepans full into the piece of muslin, then folded it over the mash - kinda like a burrito, then put on a waxed pressing board.  Dad used his dado cutter and put slots on both sides of the board.  The long way were about 10 slots and along the short side were about 20 slots.  Mom coated everything with paraffin wax.  We had to make sure to put the lengthwise slots on top the apples, so the cider would run out through the hole at the end and in to the bucket. A bucket of mash was enough to do 5 layers of of muslin-wrapped mash and 5 pressing boards.

Dad adding the freshly waxed pressing boards

 After adding the final pressing board, we added a flat board.  Dad bought the hydraulic press a few years ago - which was a drastic improvement over just using the cider press and a LOT less work.  On top the flat board, we add weights and a piece of angle iron to even out the pressing.  We kept pressing until the pressing boards touched.  It seemed to work best when we had one side of the boards touching, and then flipped the angle iron over to put more pressure on the other half of the board and press the 2nd side.

Layer the muslin wrapped around apple mash and the pressing boards

 When we had finished pressing, we unwrapped the DRY apple solids.  Three saucepans full of mash yielded about 1/4" to 1/2" deep apple pancake in each layer.

We were only able to be there for about 3 hours this morning and it was the first time that we were trying the disposal, so we were working out the getting started kinks.  We still managed to get through about 4 5-gallon pails of apples.  We used a blend of varieties of apples; the more types of apples, the smoother your cider is.  Single varietal cider is pretty harsh.  By the time that Fixit and I had to leave, we had gotten about 4 gallons of cider.  In past years, we would have had about 2 gallons.  So, it did take longer, but our yield was a lot better.  With the changes we're going to make, it should really move next time.

I sure hope so, since we have about 37 buckets of apples to go through, yet!

Fixit threatening to run us all over in the garage

p.s. Fixit kept busy, especially playing on Grandpa's Four Wheeler and on his new lawn mower.  She also got to help Grandma pick broccoli from the garden, go with Grandma to go get duck eggs, and she got to go with Grandpa on a Four Wheeler ride.