October 13: Sietsma's Orchards and Jar-O-Lanterns



Mmmmm...donuts and cider!

This was our first (but not last) visit to Sietsema Orchards and Cider Mill.  We go to church with the third-generation Sietsemas and wanted to visit their newly opened store and pick some apples to eat and make applesauce.  Our friend, Andy, surprised us with delicious donuts and cider for the kids -- they were ecstatic!  The trip could have ended there for them. :)  But we grabbed some bags and headed out into the orchard with Andy's directions as to what to pick and where to find the trees we needed: Cameos to eat and a combination of Jonogolds and Northern Spies for applesauce. 

Koen heard "Spy" and he was immediately interested.  The only spies he knows are on Cars 2 and he was excited to learn there was a Spy Apple!  Even though we picked them to make applesauce, he insisted on only eating Spies because, "This is the tastiest apple I have EVER eaten!"  I think I need to make everything related to Cars or some other movie/story/book he's interested in...do you think he'd go for Radiator Springs Roasted Chicken or Mater's Potaters?  ;)

Hanging out on the hay bales in the store at Sietsemas.

 After we picked our apples and purchased some cider we were off for home again. 

Koen had this day and the next off from school for the Christian School Teachers Convention, so he got to participate in our project for the day:  Jar-O-Lanterns!  I saw this idea in the October 2011 issue of Family Fun magazine and knew the kids would enjoy it! 

Begin with a glass jar.  Cut masking tape in basic shapes to create jack-o-lantern faces.  We used a lot of triangles, squares, and rectangles.  Place the tape on the outside of the jar to create a face.  Then paint the entire outside of the jar with orange paint.  The instructions from the magazine suggested acrylic, but I didn't have any so we just used orange craft paint from Target.  Wait for the paint to dry and carefully remove the tape.  Viola!  Your jar-o-lantern!  The magazine said to use a battery-operated tea light, but again, I didn't have any, so we used the good-old-fashioned votive candle and just set them on the counter for us to see and not touch.