october, other.

a lot of october 2019 was spent in acadia and shenendoah national parks. but here’s what we were doing when we weren’t out in the wilderness.

well, firstly, i spent a lot of time meal prepping and cleaning for the acadia trip. the rv was pretty gross after a long time of being unoccupied, so it needed a thorough deep clean, which was miserable, because it was a million degrees outside. we also had to get a bunch of food prepared, because our campground (and walmarts along the way) had no hookups, so we would have limited electrical capabilities. and then, i also had this big, beautiful basil plant that i was unsure would make it through the two weeks we were gone, so made a bunch of pesto….

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anna is still busy with dance. she loves it and takes it very seriously. she loves her teacher(s) and has made a lot of new friends that she texts with incessantly.

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if you’ve read the post about apple picking, you’ll know that we came home from acadia with an overload of apples. like, way more than our apple loving family could eat. so, we researched some recipes. and decided that an apple crisp would be a tasty way to use some of them up. chef anna got to work, and sous chef ruby handled apple peel disposal duties. the final result was delicious, even if it was a little burned in some spots from my stupid antique oven.

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and now some hazel related photos, for your viewing enjoyment. napping. chalkboard art. and co-op ornament pride. (it’s a fibonacci spiral, i’m told).

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as you know, at the end of october comes halloween. unless it doesn’t. halloween this year was a mess. it rained like crazy. so a lot of places postponed their activities until the next night. but we had already talked the kids into just having some halloween themed fun at the house and skipping the trick or treating (anna and isaac are already too cool anyways, so i really only had to sell hazel).

we started off with pumpkin carving. oh, i should also tell you that isaac opted out of activities also, and chose to code on the computer all night, in case you’re wondering where he is.

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our second activity of the night was making and decorating halloween themed spooky cookies. and eating most of them.

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we ended the evening watching halloween themed movies and eating candy and popcorn and the like. i don’t think hazel really missed trick or treating, but i will try to be a better mom next year and take her out.

and now. for october’s edition of creatures we find in our yard. there’s not quite as many now that the weather is cooler. and we weren’t around much. but i’m also expanding this month’s edition to contain a weird chain that is being consumed by a tree. which is pretty cool and strange.

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and lastly, an october ruby roundup.

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and that, my friends, is october.

(and if you’re reading these in real-ish time as i post them, you’ll know that i’m now only 3.5 months behind in posting. woo hoo!!)

onto november!!