Maine Maple Weekend

Keeping with tradition, we headed up north to visit some local maple farms for Maine Maple Weekend.  It was a bright, sunny day - but don't let that fool you into thinking it was warm! :)

Of course, face painting is always a big hit!

Two puppies and a kitty feeling the bottle of fresh, WARM maple syrup.  Literally just poured - it doesn't get much fresher than that!

Tour of the factory:

Everything's more fun when you're sitting atop a tractor!

We love the free maple samples, including maple syrup on pancakes, maple fudge, maple cotton candy, maple syrup on ice cream, maple cream, and maple baked beans.  Yum!!!

And, of course, things always taste better when you can sit on a teeter-totter. :)

And our visit wouldn't be complete without a sap lugging contest! :)

Angel's off.....will she beat the time?

She did it - Angel won! For the second year in a row! :)  Maple whoopie pies are the best!

 Grins tried his hardest....maybe next year!

  The Mr. beat Mommy by .1 seconds - winning the whoopie (while Mom lost by .1 seconds!)

Then Wiggles gave it her best shot....

Here she comes!

Uh-oh- that face means it's time to go home! :)

What a fun day!  We love New England!  

Australia Night

Raising our children with a 'global perspective'- having them learn about other cultures, people, countries, etc - is important to us.  Since we can't take them to other countries right now, we decided to bring other countries to them (in a small way), and have a series of "culture nights" where we learn about other cultures and customs.  Our first attempt: Australia Night

Here we are making a delectable Australian dessert: Pavlova.  It is divine!!!  I have such wonderful helpers!

 

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of our whole meal, but here was our main course: Australian Meat Pie:

And the Pavlova.  Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Our guest of honor, Mr. Greenaway, (whose parents are from Australia) showed us where Australia was on the globe, and told us a lot about the country.

Of course, Australia night wouldn't be complete without boomerangs! :)

 We also decorated a large Australian flag, drew a map of the country, listened to the National Anthem, and "Waltzing Matilda", and did some coloring pages and fact sheets.  All in all, it was lots of fun, and a good learning experience!  The kids are already asking when we can have pavlova again! :)

Menu Plan Monday

It's been ages since I posted a Menu Plan, but I like doing it for 2 reasons: First, it encourages me to get organized with my meal planning, and gives me some sense of accountability for following through, and second, it's fun looking back and finding what meals we've enjoyed over the years, and how our diet has changed (or what 'staples' have remained the same).

Monday: Brown rice sushi and green smoothies (a light meal since we were out swimming until very late)
Tuesday: Cauliflower crust Pizza, tossed green salad
Wednesday: Swiss Chard Lasagna with mushrooms, tossed green salad
Thursday: Our anniversary - Kids get leftovers and we eat out!
Friday: Grins' birthday - Grins' choice - Pancakes and eggs