Apples 2016

After last year's absence of apple picking, we resumed one of our favorite family traditions of both visiting the apple orchard & making homemade apple sauce. This year the kids were able to be most helpful!

Apple Orchard 2013

Yesterday was our annual trip to the apple orchard, and this year Lincoln brought a new friend from school, Samuel.  It's funny to watch two Kindergartener boys be silly in the car and run around crazy.  This was also the first year in a while that I didn't need a pack for one of the kids.To say that we ate well with some good, apple-themed courses yesterday would be an understatement.  It started at the orchard where each kid ate two apples off the tree and chased them with a donut.

I've never gotten in the habit of mentioning each Ohio State win (that would get redundant, especially in the Urban Meyer era), but last night's win over Northwestern, where the Buckeyes spun their wheels most of the evening, will be most memorable for me in the way they covered the spread by scoring a crazy touchdown when the clock had run out.  I'll take 'em any way the Buckeyes can get 'em.

The government shutdown, you know, the situation in which we find ourselves because, among many reasons, the Senate wouldn't agree to live under the same Obamacare law that we all are going to have to live under... well, the government shutdown is threatening to affect Jenn and Grandpa Dave's upcoming half-marathon, as it is to be run on the Towpath through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  Grrrrrrrrr.  I'm not enamored with much of Washington these days on either side, but the excuse we have for a leader in the White House can't be gone soon enough.

Apples, v.2012

As is Gates Family tradition, we went out to the apple orchard today to gather some apples, as well as squash, cider and apple donuts. The kids were great. Until their donuts were gone, and then the wheels came off. But it was time to go home. So aside from the meltdown at the very end, we had a lot of fun meandering around the trees and filling up our bags full of apples.We're off to Bowling Green tomorrow!

Another Birthday Party, and Shaking the Sick Bug

Last Saturday we went to the birthday party of a son of friends from church. It was a low-key gathering and a fun time for the parents to chat and the kids to eat sugary things.On the kid front, there have been some funny things happen lately that I just need to write down here so I don't forget.

Several days ago, during a period of insanity when Jenn was considering whether or not we'll adopt again any time soon, she said to Lincoln, "What would you think if we went back to China in a couple of years and adopted a little girl?"

Lincoln thought for a moment, then said, "No. We'd need to get a bigger wagon."

On Tuesday evening we were out in the driveway while Henry was meanering around, Lincoln was riding his tricycle some and generally keeping busy and Lydia was sitting on her tricycle. All of a sudden, her tricycle got rolling and was heading toward the muddy mess that sits beside our driveway. Henry was in my arms at this point and I was too far away to stop her, but Lincoln was on that side of the driveway, and without thinking, he ran in front of her tricycle and grabbed the handle bars and stopped it from jumping over the little curb, which no doubt would have spilled Lydia into the mud and prompted a dramatic display of crying. Jenn and I couldn't believe it. A decisive, unselfish, gut reaction from our Lincoln. We're proud of him. And in the same cyber-breath, I'll share this photo...Today was "Share And Tell" at preschool, and you may or may not be surprised to know that Lincoln took his inflatable globe, and told the class some facts about the countries which have been featured in his Highlights mystery packs: Japan, Brazil and India. He pointed them out on the globe, and then shared a fact about each of these: he told the boys and girls that Japan is a country made up of many islands, Brazil is the largest country in South America, and India has Asian elephants that help people work with heavy objects. I asked him over lunch what some of the other kids shared, and he said, "One boy brought Spongebob!" And ours gave a geography lesson. Yes. We're very proud of Lincoln.

Henry's trying to talk, and he's getting a few new sounds out. Lydia is speaking in paragraphs and sharing conversations with us that she's retained from who knows when. She's hilarious to watch. She's got her alphabet down, and she's starting to fill in the blanks on some of our sing-along songs. Lately, we've been happy that Henry is reliably shaking his head "yes" and "no." He's started saying, "Yah!" to our questions... the problem is that he'll say, "Yah!" to, "Henry, do you want to get dressed now?" and, "Henry, you look tired, are you ready for bed?" and, "Henry, is the sky green?" It's kind of funny, and we'll take any verbal communication out of him. Just knowing that he's understanding that verbal interaction is a good thing and something that we expect of him is nice to see.

The runny nose bug has run through our house again, and I think it may finally be gone. Lincoln, as usual, is the one to bring it home. He's usually bothered by less than 24 hours. Lydia then gets it next and is an absolute train wreck. Jenn and I can usually count on no meaningful sleep during her first night of sickness. I was curious to see how Henry would respond, and he, too, had a tough time at night. At the front end of this week Jenn was thoroughly exhausted. I fared a bit better. Last night, with the exception of Henry getting fussy for a few minutes at 11:00pm, the kids slept all night, which was a first in the last 10 days.

We're looking foward to continuing our family tradition of fall time apple picking this Saturday. Then in the afternoon Jenn's parents and grandparents are arriving in town for us to go over to see Haley play at Bowling Green on Sunday. This will be a first for all of us to see our D-1 athlete daughter/sister/grand-daughter play at the collegiate level. Bowling Green is having a rough start to their season, but they weren't very good last year, and looking at the team stats, the freshmen are getting some playing time. Looks like a good year to rebuild, get some experience, and work toward some good stuff in seasons to come. In any event, it'll be nice to see Haley and spend some time as a Parkinson-side-of-the-family out there. Lydia and Henry will not be making the trip, but instead will be hanging out with Grandma Paulette and Grandpa Doug.

Jenn is doing a really good job planning a party to catch Lydia's and Henry's birthdays and to incoporate a costume party for our friends/family. The decor and favors are in the works. The kids all have costumes ready to go, and today Jenn and I ordered ours. Photos definitely to come after this fun event.

I haven't had much to say about the dogs lately. They've been really good with the kids, and relatively little trouble. I guess the dogs are like a good offensive line in football... if you're not hearing about them, they're probably doing their job.

Tonight Jenn's at Ladies Night with our ABF at church. She's taken on the role of planning the evenings, choosing the speakers and directing the content. Could you imagine anyone better for that job?

Apples, 2011

Lydia's been getting more and more into playing little games like Hide-N-Seek and Peek-A-Boo. In this photo, she kept peeking out from behind the bannister while Jenn was working in the office.

We've been experiencing our first wave of real, genuine tantrums. The kind that involve screaming, thrashing, hitting and the like. There have been three over the last three days, and while there are points during the events where we want to actually laugh, when viewed in total, they're kind of scary. It's unbelievable to think that a 3-and-a-half year-old boy could have so much disturbing behavior wrapped up in him. For those who want to argue that we're not sinners, than man is not a fallen creature, I point to the toddler tantrum-thrower to show that all humans have a dark, dark side to them. Jenn and I are in the process of learning how to manage and curb these episodes. Hopefully they're just a phase.

Today was our annual apple picking day. It turned out to be a great weather day, and Lincoln had a blast picking apples and he even got to eat one right off the tree! Our plan for the after-nap portion of the day is to make applesauce and an apple pie. This combined with the Apple Pie Donut he had at the orchard ought to cap a good day of treats for Lincoln.

Apple Picking Version 2010

Today was our (mostly) annual trip to the Apple Orchard. You may recall that we had to put off our trip last year when Lincoln vomitted in the car. So it had not been since this photo that Lincoln had accompanied us on our fall family tradition.

Aside: I had mentioned in the last post the Lincoln's been sick lately. He's got a really runny nose and a tough cough. It's not limiting his play-time, or his desire for independence, or his ability to be funny. Earlier in the week he woke up crying very seriously. I went into his room and asked if he had a bad dream and he answered, "Yes." Since then, when he wakes up crying, he tells us that he's had a bad dream. Then Jenn asked him on one occasion what his bad dream was about, and without missing a beat, he replied, "Ice cream." So I'm not sure he completely understands what we mean by "a bad dream."

Back to the events of the day, the house smells wonderful. The applesauce is cooking, and apple pies, apple dumplings and apple crisp is on the agenda, as well.

The Buckeyes started a few minutes ago. I DVRed it so I won't have to watch all of the commercials, but I'm getting antsy to watch, so I'll be closing up shop here shortly.The days are ticking down to Lydia's arrival. Because Lincoln was so late, it's hard to know exactly when Lydia will decide to make her appearance. The possibility of her coming early really hasn't been on our radar. Hmmm... Will we look back to this blog post and laugh?

Lincoln goes to the Apple Orchard

Today we made our traditional Gates Family trip to the apple orchard to pick apples for pies, dumplings, sauce, glazes, etc.  Cortlands and Galas were ripe today, which are our favorites!  This was Lincoln's first trip with us, and he was an All Star!

It started with a hay ride back to the orchard. Lincoln loved this because it was breezy and he loves being outside in nice weather.  He was in a pleasant mood because he actually slept well on the way out. Hillcrest Orchards is about an hour away from our place, and this made a decent length of sleep for him. He was the happiest baby in the orchard.
It was actually pretty sunny, which was a surprise to us (the weather report was 100% chance of rain), but it didn't seem to bother him. He liked to touch the apples here and there, but we can't say he was caught up in the spirit of the event.

Our stay in the orchard was cut short when Jenn felt a vibration around her belly through the Baby Bjorn that was long and sustained. She went back to where the wagon left us off, where there was a picnic table, to get him out of his Bjorn. The goal here was to relieve some of the pressure around his rear end and prevent poop from running down his leg and her front. But it was too late... poop had already leaked out. Not a lot... but enough. The Baby Bjorn will be heading to the wash today!

He's sleeping upstairs now.  He's had quite the busy day, but he's in the process of putting 3 very good days together!  We're also hoping that his pooping schedule has changed.  Our fear was that since he was pooping once per week, and on Wednesdays, that our trip to Phoenix, also on a Wednesday, would be a complete nightmare.  He's extremely pleasant after he poops.  Until then, however... look out.