Fun at Preschool (After Hours)

Yesterday late afternoon and evening, Heather's preschoool held a Fall Festival. Wes was coaching soccer and Wayne is too cool for preschool, so he stayed with Joanie.

There was face painting and sack races.

 Apple printing and sand art.

Another cider press. This one belongs to Linda and Evan Perron. Linda works at the preschool now. Also, a tractor hayride.

A petting zoo. I fell in love with the baby goats. They were so cute and mischievous.

 Last but not least, the was scarecrow making. The finished scarecrows will be displayed outside the school

There was also plenty of fall food. During class earlier, the kids had prepared pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pudding, and squash soup. The kitchen staff had also made chicken sandwiches to make a rounded meal.

At the end of the night, every family got to take home a book and a pumpkin.

Soccer and Cider

Last weekend, Wayne finished up the soccer season with a tournament in Orleans.

Glover, in the blue shirts, won the tournament.

 Heather and Cole don't pay much attention to the games. They just like to play with their friends on the playground. Heather is on the itre swing with Madeleine.

 And, below, our friend and neighbor Anya. Her dad is also Wayne's soccer coach. 

 The torunament was an all day event, so in the afternoon, Cole, Heather, Anya and I took a break and headed over to the Old Stone House with a whole bunch of our apples. Every Saturday, they let you come and use the cider press for free. You just bring your own apples and your own containers.

(on a side note, the following 4 photos are from a different day - the kids picking apples)

Back to the cider press at the OSH: first step is to wash off all the apples.

 Then, use child labor to grind them all up.

The more children you bring with you, the better.

 Sometimes the apples need a little help getting pushed down into the grinding thing.

 This is what they look like all ground up in the bucket beneath.

 Then use all your muscles to turn the crank and press, press, press.

 We made 2 and a half gallons of the most delicious cider you've ever tasted. We gave Anya the half gallon for her efforts and because her dad is a good soccer coach.

Old Stone House Field Trip

A few weeks ago, the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classes went on a field trip to the Old Stone House. Here, the lady is demonstrating how a root cellar was used to preserve root vegetables through the winter.

 Boys digging potatoes.

 Girls and Ben cleaning carrots in the grass. The box is a stand in for an actual root cellar.

 A lesson on textiles and weaving.

 Stencilling, a popular art form of the day.

 Heather may be twice as tall as all the kids in her preschool class, but mixed in amongst the 4th grade class, she was referred to as "that little one."  The OSH volunteers would say, "That little one is welcome to come in here and get involved too."

 Next stop, the cider press.

 Cranking to chop and grind up the apples.

 Next the apples get pressed to squeeze out the cider.

 This crank operates the press

 The cider was really good.

 The blacksmith's shop.

 Turning the air thing to make the fire bigger. Can you tell I didn't really pay much attention to the technical terminology?

 Old style dress and games.

 A ride on a stage coach.

 Fred Webster built this stage coach when he was 88. Now he's in his 90's.

 The last stop of the field trip was a hike up to the tower. I thought a lot about Aimee and Tyler and baby Caroline while we were up here.

 Later that evening, open house at preschool. Sheather showed off her classroom and some of the projects they've been working on.

 Wayne and Cole remember this playground, but now they look like giants on the equipment.