The Gravenstein Apple Fair THIS Weekend!

If you missed it last year, this weekend's your chance to check out the Gravenstein Apple Fair held at Ragle Ranch Park in Sebastopol. This is not your typical county fair where animals are competitively shown through 4-H {although there were some 4-H animals there to interact with}, this a sweet little country fair with live music, wine tasting, plenty of food and apple tasting with more of a festival type atmosphere. 

I'm hoping to bring the kids up this weekend, the weather should be perfect!  These pics are from a past Gravenstein Apple Fair, to give you an idea of what it's all about....

First things first, gotta eat your apple a day!

Because after the apple, comes the apple fritter.

Yum!

This was Paige's first experience with an apple fritter and she's in love.....my carb girl...

There were a couple of little rides, one being a mini canoe ride that the kids rode twice.

Back to healthy food.  Bryce wanted a peach.....my fruit and veggi {and beef} boy....

The fair had two stages that bands played on throughout the day and a couple of demonstration and educational areas where there were cooking demonstrations and farm talks.......none of which I was able to listen to, but that's what happens when you take two active kids to the fair.....no time to sit and listen.

There were animals to pet.

Angora sheep, thank you for the beautiful sweaters you provide us!

Angora sheep are beautiful.  It was a first for me to see one in person.

This guy kept head butting the mini pony next door......guess he needed some more personal space.

There was also a bee display which the kids and I loved as well.

The secret life of bees!

The kids got a kick out of being so close to bees and not being stung by one.

Then we got to sample some honey.

Our favorite was the raspberry honey.....really good!

We had birds to visit.

And lunch.  Typical fair food was served....garlic fries, gyros, corn dogs, tamales, pizza and of course hot dogs .....and much more.  They also had a wine and brew tasting at the "Sips & Suds" tent, which I did not venture over to......there's always next year.

I love antique tractors and they had quite a display of them.

They also had a ton of antique farm equipment such as this apple tree sprayer.

Every one of them in working order too.  It was really interesting for all of us to see the progression of farm equipment technology over the years.

Make your own rope demonstration.

And as promised, cotton candy to complete our day. 

I told them they could have some if they promised to behave on the 45 minute car ride home.....HA!

I'll let you use your own imagination on how that went.

All in all, I so loved this fair.  All the historical displays, celebrating the Gravenstein apple,  apple desserts, wine tasting, entertainment.....something for every age group.

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Frozen Fruit and Yogurt Pops

My kids LOVE frozen pops and I admit, I do as much as they do.  Want an easy recipe to make at home?  Here's one that won't disappoint....

Photo from Williams Sonoma
This is also a fun project to do with your kids.  Fun for a child's birthday party, slumber party or get together!  You can be creative and use your favorite flavors.

Ingredients:

1 cup strawberry yogurt
1 cup orange juice
1 1⁄2 cups raspberry juice

Directions:
Set eight 5-ounce popsicle molds or paper cups on a work surface. Spoon an equal amount of the yogurt into each mold or cup and press down with the spoon to fill the bottom evenly. Cover the molds. If using cups, cover each with a square of aluminum foil, pressing it firmly around the sides. Poke a popsicle stick through each foil cover, pushing it into the middle of the yogurt. Set the molds or cups in the freezer until beginning to set, about 40 minutes.

Remove the molds from the freezer. If using cups, carefully lift off the foil but leave the sticks in place. Pour an equal amount of the orange juice into each mold or cup. Cover, return the molds or cups to the freezer and freeze until firm, about 40 minutes. Repeat the procedure with the raspberry juice. Freeze until solid, about 4 hours or up to overnight.

To serve, slip the pops from the molds or remove the foil and peel away the paper cups. Makes 8 pops.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma The Kid's Cookbook, by Abigail Johnson Dodge Pin It

Real Farmwives of America & Make Butter with a Jar

A couple of weeks ago, I was honored to be asked to guest post on Three Kids and a lot of Pigs for Heather's 'Farmer Friday' feature on her blog.  With this guest post, I was also introduced as the most recent addition to a group that I'm honored to be associated with, Real Farmwives of America.

A quick bio:

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Future 4-Her

There is no way I could deny my youngest the opportunity to become involved in 4H.  With Bryce, beginning 4H at 5 years old, we found to be a  fantastic experience.  We didn't start him off with animals, he was more interested in cooking so that's the project we signed him up for.  Now, in his second year, he's into photography and cooking.

Like her brother, Paige will also sign up for cooking, since the meetings are held at our house, it's kind of a given.  But I think I see the purchase of a bunny hutch in our near future though.  The other day, at Marin Farm Day, my sister had her kid's 4H bunnies on display.  Remember Cinnamon?  Well, he was there and Paige was more than happy and very proud to take responsibility for showing him to all the kids who attended Farm Day.

Paige & Cinnamon sat with cousin, Leila and Dominic at the Marin Co. Farm Bureau table which was conveniently located right next to our 4H club's table and enjoyed showing the Holland Lop, Cinnamon to all who passed by.

Great life lessons can be learned from owning pets.  I know Paige will share her thoughts and secrets with her future bunny, just as she does with her stuffed animals now.  Having a pet she can call her very own will teach respect and responsibility for other living things.

Having a pet bunny {or any pet} will also provide a more in-depth lesson about life, reproduction, birth, illnesses and eventually death and bereavement.  Even though I don't like to think about the last two lessons mentioned, it's part of the circle of life.

If you want to see what Cinnamon and the other bunnies that belong to my sister looked like when they were babies, just click over to my Hoppity Hop post....Cinnamon was TINY! {she's the only brown one in the photos}

Did you grow up with a pet of your very own?

I love to hear from you! To leave a comment, click on the “Post a Comment” link below. Have a peaceful day.



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No Fear.....no, not me

Paige's new-found talent.  Vaulting.  She's into it.....at least on this pretend 'horse'.  At Farm Day, one of the demonstrations that I had to practically tear Paige away from was the horse vaulting.  She watched the 'big girls' demonstrate their moves and then only needed to be asked once if she wanted to try.

She got on and immediately mimicked what she saw the 'big girls' do....no instruction needed. 

Paige is already involved in gymnastics and has no fear, which, I believe is what's needed for vaulting atop a moving animal.  I can't even imagine the balance that's required for this sport!

Thumbs up from the instructor.

The horse stable is located just down the street from us and we drive by it more than once a day......I don't think I'll be able to sway her from this one.

Her cousin, Leila may have to join as well.

Towards the end of the morning, we found ourselves back over at the vaulting area just so Paige could watch the vaulting competition on the laptop that was set up at the table.

I have a feeling vaulting is not an inexpensive sport.......unfortunately.

I love to hear from you! To leave a comment, click on the “Post a Comment” link below. Have a peaceful day.



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Spectacular Lake Tahoe

There's a break between storms here in Lake Tahoe and it is just spectacular....no other way to describe it.

Perfect weather for playing outside and taking walks.

The roads near where we're staying are either closed or chains required for 4-wheel drives.  Since we don't have chains for our 4-wheel drive, we're hanging at the condo in Tahoe City.

Another photo of icicles, can you tell I love them?

No complaints from us though.  We built a sledding path right outside our front door, what more can you ask for?!  If the kids get tired or just need a break, the condo front door is just to the left in this photo below.

So we played 'cops & robbers' on sleds.  Paige and I were the 'robbers' and Logan and Derrick were the cops chasing us and Bryce decided to impale us with snowballs as we whizzed by.

Everyone took turns. 

I love having everything right outside the front door.  No driving required.  Cheers! 

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Snow Trip......well almost

The morning started out with high hopes and full of enthusiasm, looking forward to our annual snow trip to Lake Tahoe with our good friends.

What?  Winter storm warning?

They always over exaggerate, don't they?  What's driving through a little snow fall?

Off we went.  Hitting a torrential down pouring of rain through Sacramento and to the east on the way to the Sierra Nevada's.

All was good.  Roads open.  Four wheel drive with snow tires are ok and cleared to begin the trek up and over the summit.

Until we get to Colfax.

Highway 80 closed due to some sort of 20 car pile up accident that just happened 10 minutes prior.
The Grossi family guardian angel is working over time this week.  I was SO thankful we weren't caught up in that.

So, what else could we do?
Turn back and drive to Auburn, do a little bowling and either find a room for the night or wait for the roads to re-open.

We arrived in Tahoe at 11:30 p.m.




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Pig Scramble

As most of you know, the kids and I spent three entire, long days at our local country fair while Dominic was away on his Scotland trip.  Saturday was Farmer's Day where there were all kinds of activities to participate in such as team penning, wild cow milking, calf scramble, boot scramble, egg toss, etc.  Bryce was able to participate in the pig scramble and the boot scramble. 

The pig scramble is where little piggies are brought into the arena and let loose and all the kids try their hardest to catch one of them, either by the leg or the entire body.  It is hysterical to watch this event.

Anticipation before the piggies are let out....

Some of the pigs are let out....

And, they're off and running and very determined.....

Bryce is trying hard to catch up to this piggy....

Cousin, Cam is after one....

Well, in the end Bryce did not catch a pig but his cousin Cameron did.  The prize was a $5 bill and a ribbon.

After the Farmer's Day activities we walked back to the motor home (camp) and had some snacks....

Cam's dad, Jim, slicing up some sausage....

Kettle chips and french onion dip.....Oh SO GOOD!

Low fat cream cheese on whole grain crackers topped with Tastefully Simple's Pomegranate Chipotle Sauce (which has a kick to it)....my favorite!  Always good to finish off a long day with some tasty food and drink :)

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