hiking in the Wissahickon

We've enjoyed spending time in the woods this beautiful autumn whenever we can.  We explored some new paths in Fairmount park and grown very fond of the Wissahickon forest.

One morning we took our neighbor, Jack, with us and had a fun time tramping about in the woods, building rock towers, and throwing rocks in the stream.

family hiking photo!

hiking with Granna and Grandaddy during their visit in October

autumn harvest

Our garden has been bountiful this season.  Harvest has continued late into the autumn and is just now ending.  We've had plenty of kale, arugula, tomatillos, hot peppers, broccoli and a few slow tomatoes.

Erik made a boatload of hot sauce!

We had our annual applesaucing over a few days in October.  

Apples from our farm up north of Philly - beautiful red cortlands!  

Both girls were sweet helpers - washing apples and helping turn the hand crank on the processor.  

I canned a few dozen quarts, froze some and we are enjoying a lot of it right now.

Erik's made two delicious 2 gallon batches of saurekraut in our new-to-us crock.  We are becoming addicted - so yummy!  Recently Eliza Wren and I had a hankering for a late afternoon snack, so we settled down on the kitchen floor to enjoy some together.  It hit the spot. :)

Halloween 2014

Meredith chose to be a "kitty-cat" for Halloween this year.  She was thrilled to receive kitty ears in the mail from Auntie Jane, and to have the treat of getting her face painted for the occasion. :)  Here she is showing off her tail on the cat costume I made for her.

Eliza Wren was a monkey - complete with a banana in the pocket!  I found this outfit at a thrift store, and since I wasn't sure she'd even wear it, though the $4 was worth the chance. :)  She loved it!

 We went around 2 blocks in our neighborhood with these local kiddos.  So much fun and cuteness!

Ballet

Meredith's final dance class was open for the parents to observe.  The teacher led them through their class routines - so cute and fun.  It was so fun for me to see the snippets I've seen Meredith practicing at home in the context of the class setting along with her classmates. :)

Easter Sunday

We spent a lovely afternoon with our dear friends, Joe and Rachel and their beautiful family!

these kids loved romping together all afternoon

excited for dessert!!