School Update

Lest any concerned grandparents be worried that we have totally blown off all studies for the canning season, please rest assured your grandchildren are still learning. Megan and Ian are both continuing piano lessons with their instructor at USU. In fact, they have a recital coming up on 4 October.

We are making flapbooks as part of a Humanitarian Aid unit, and they have been reading and writing reports about Mother Teresa and Gandhi (how come the most famous humanitarians are connected to India?). We are also collecting, sewing, and assembling school kits and hygiene kits to donate to the LDS Church's Humanitarian Center . We hope to be able to visit the department in Salt Lake City later on and learn more about the many programs the Church assists.









A couple weeks ago we took a field trip to the James V. Hansen Wildlife Education Center in Brigham City. Due to a backpack mix up (fairly long story behind that), we arrived with a bag full of piano music, and the bag with our binoculars, field guides, camera, and--most importantly--Erin's diapers (!!!) remained sitting on the floor at home. April was very disappointed not to have the camera, and alas we are unable to show you what fun adventures we had there. The tour started with an introductory movie telling about National Wildlife Refuges throughout the United States, then we went on an indoor scavenger hunt through the displays. The children had to read the information to find answers to questions such as "Name one bird that lays a speckled egg" or "What bird that visits the refuge makes the largest tracks?" We then went outside where Kevin took the younger children on a scavenger hunt through the wetlands walkway and the older children studied macroinvertebrates from some marsh water we collected. We had a lot of fun looking at the critters using a 2-way magnifying viewer. (Guess what the children are getting for Christmas this year?) Thanks to the internet, we can at least show you what a dragonfly larva and a scud (a freshwater shrimp-like organism) look like:






















Last week we joined other friends in Cache Valley Homeschool Group activities. The theme for the annual Fall Festival this year was Johnny Appleseed. We checked out several books from the library and spent time learning about him. Then we participated in a service project at Zollinger's Apple Orchard where we gathered for a couple of hours to clean up windfalls, squished apples, and pruned branches. About 75 people showed up for this activity! Grandma Tsukamoto came up for a short visit for a couple of days and helped out with this project too--she was a BIG help keeping track of Erin, who wandered all over chasing a cat she wanted to pet.





























Friday evening we met at Hyrum Park in Blacksmith Fork Canyon for the Fall Festival. It is an event with carnival games, contests, food, and fun. Both Megan and Ian entered the art and cake decorating contests. Megan received 3rd place for her drawing, and Ian received a "Very Creative" card for his apple seed collage.






















Megan's cake tied for "Most Colorful" and "Tastiest" categories in her age division. We ended up bringing the cakes back home with us because both children chose their cakes as prizes for the cake walk. (Most families ended up with at least 2 cakes--there were 30-40 entries in that contest.) Both Megan and Ian had a fun time decorating their cakes. Ian's zucchini spice cake was extra tasty. Megan's carrot cake was delicious, and it was her first cake that she made all by herself (including grating all those carrots).
























And for basic life learning skills, we present homemade salsa, our latest canning adventure:

Food Preservation: Is there ever an end?

Pears

Erin continues to promote healthy eating habits as well as advertise our food storage efforts for this season. She absolutely loves pears: fresh, bottled, or dried. Megan loves them also, but doesn't exhibit the same enjoyment for posing for the camera. We extend many thanks to more of our neighbors who graciously shared their pear trees with our family.

Grapes

This year, for the first time, we made our own raisins. We tried once in the past and didn't have good results. However, we have since perfected our techniques and ended up with a good supply.










Apples





Erin decided to contract out apple advertising to the rest of her family. The morning we visited a local orchard to pick up unwanted windfalls, she decided to stay in the Suburban and eat graham crackers. Windfalls cannot be sold commercially, so the family who owns this place gives them away to those willing to come pick them off the ground. Optimal foraging instincts drove us to fill all the containers we had brought, and we ended up with a good amount in about an hour.






























April, the children, and friends spent Tuesday afternoon and Friday morning making applesauce in the Crook's outdoor summer kitchen. This year Jim has added quite the luxury feature: a hot water heater for the sink! It is hidden by the cardboard (lower left photo)--a safety feature so the little children won't accidentally burn themselves. So far everyone who has used this summer kitchen has given it a five-star rating.


















Stay tuned for the Crook's annual apple cider pressing party coming later in October...

Sunday Afternoon Hike

Kevin decided to take the family for a short hike up Logan Canyon one Sunday afternoon. Ian found Kevin's elk call left in the Suburban after his ill-fated bow hunting attempts (sorry no blog entry for that), so we were treated to loud sounds of what sounded like very sick elk as we walked along a game trail. Needless to say, between Yuki running around excitedly and the dying elk sounds, we didn't see much wildlife. The canyon was beautiful, however, with the leaves just starting to turn in a few places. Next week they should be in full vibrant fall colors.

We Really Don't Have Time for This

Having been inspired by Janell's short videos of Scotty Boy, we decided to try editing and posting one of our own. However, it took us nearly 3 hours to format, edit, add music, etc. This event occurred several months ago during our field trip to the Trappist Monastery. As proud parents, we present Megan's first gopher snake capture:

Back to Real Time (sort of)

Photo Prize

Thanks to Megan's winning photo, Kevin and April attended the National LDS Homeschool Association Conference held in Sandy, Utah, in mid-August. And here is Megan's prize: a 16 X 20 framed copy they awarded her! We were all surprised by its size. Now we have to repaint the living room and create a nice spot on the wall to display it.

Water Rocket Class

Ian and his friend Andrew attended a homeschool class on how to make water rockets. Initially they discussed the significance of the center of gravity and the center of force. Then they constructed their own rockets using 2-liter pop bottles, cardboard fins, and lots of duct tape.

They filled the rockets with water, pumped them up with air, and launched them across a field. The boys had a "blast!" (pun intended, please groan)

Brigham City Peaches

What can be more exciting than peach season??? Developers have not yet entirely converted the Brigham City orchards into new housing complexes, thus we are still able to get locally-grown peaches. Early on, Kevin let his friends at the BC USU Extension know that he (actually his wife) wanted to get some good deals on peaches this year, and here are the some of the results:

We were able to share a lot with friends, and we still ended up with 30 bottled quarts for our family, a gallon bag of frozen, a batch of jam, and a batch of fruit leather. Plus we have been eating peaches for over a week now. Erin LOVES them, and even Ian will eat them if we sprinkle powdered sugar on them.


Origami Pigs

One of secrets to canning season is how to entertain Erin while her mother is busy canning. Megan discovered that Erin loves origami. One evening while April was working on peaches, they spent a couple of hours folding paper critters. Erin especially liked the pig family they made.

Grand Teton National Park

The last day and a half of our vacation we spent visiting Grand Teton National Park. We camped in the Colter Bay Campground for one night.

The Family by Jenny Lake

Jenny Lake was April's grandmother's favorite place. We have a 4-generation photo with her from 8 years ago when Megan was 2 (but we lack a scanner to include it here on this post). So family tradition says we have to visit Jenny Lake if we are ever in this national park. We went to the Visitor's Center (where Kevin picked up a new track and scat field guide) and then took a relaxing walk along a shoreline trail with the children. Family tradition also dictates that we must take a nice photo by the lake, and here are the results. We hope that Great-Grandma Brown took a break from her angelic duties and watched her cute great-grandchildren for a bit that day.

Horseback Riding

Since we were on a fun family vacation, and since we have an avid horse lover in the family, somehow Megan and April ended up on an early-morning horseback ride by Colter Bay. Due to safety and liability issues, we were only able to walk a very slow walk along the trail, but it was still fun and the guide told us some interesting things about the area. Megan was already in shape due to her summer riding lessons, but April's behind was pretty sore by the end of the ride. She thinks saddles should be made with padding.

Motor Boat Ride on Jackson Lake

Since we were on a fun family vacation, and since Ian was too young to go on the horse ride, Kevin thought he should rent a motor boat and take the others out on Jackson Lake. The minimum rental time was 2 hours, however, so Megan and April met up with them after the horse ride and joined in the fun. April was not too pleased with Erin's position at the front of the boat as shown in the photo below. In her view it goes along with the Hansen's collection of babies in dangerous places. Kevin's rationalization was that she was wearing a life jacket and was perfectly fine. Needless to say, once April was in the boat, Erin was sitting on a lap.

After we turned in the boat and Kevin got his driver's license back (part of the security deposit), we were walking back to the parking lot and this scruffy, but cute, red fox came jogging down to the water's edge to get a drink.

Moose

The previous night we had watched some moose from the lookout over Willow Flats by the Jackson Lake Lodge. They were all pretty far away. The next day on the drive out, we were able to get a closer view of this nice bull as he was foraging next to the water. Also, for general interest and our readers' biological education, we include this lovely photo of moose scat. It was fairly old--we didn't see anything too fresh where we walked.

And thus we conclude our family vacation to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. Here is proof that people can still find entertainment for several days without computers and the internet (but we are glad we have them to share our adventures with you).

Scenic Photos of Yellowstone

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone





















Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River


















Yellowstone Lake before sunrise

















Another sunrise picture
















The Circle of Life, Norris Geyser Basin









And yet another contest!!! Please submit entries in the comment section to this post.

A. What is this? (the yellow stuff, not the mayflies on it)
















B. What is this?