Happy Fall! Apple Picking Trip 1

I love fall in New Jersey!  September and October here are mostly sunny and still warm enough to be outside enjoying the countryside without having the yucky summer humidity.  In September, our church playgroup went to Sun High Orchard about an hour away to do some apple picking.  It was a beautiful day in the 70s, but I just couldn't resist wearing my cute boots :)

This goat appreciated Andrew's corn husks

Andrew pulls apples he picked in an orchard wagon

Andrew's favorite thing was picking up the pumpkins and hauling them around in the wagons

Andrew and his friends liked hauling each other, too

Andrew and his friends--what cute critters

School

Andrew, holding his "First Day of Preschool" sign in front of our house

Andrew has now completed his first 10 weeks of preschool, and he loves it!  I love it, too.  (Grocery shopping all by myself is such a treat!)  He goes three mornings a week for a few hours each time.  There are 16 kids in his class, and three teachers.  Two of the kids from his church sunday school class go to school with him.

They color, paint, read books, build with blocks, act out stories they've read with the drama teacher, do puzzles, make collages, cut and paste, play collaboratively, play at the park across the street, eat snacks, sing songs, observe rocks in their sensory table, and lots of other fun things I'm sure.

The teachers take the time to teach the kids proper procedures for everything and they encourage independence among the children.  Andrew has learned how to start his coat zipper all by himself, carry scissors by creating a "jacket" around the blade end with his hand, and cough into his "cough catcher" (elbow).

Andrew and part of his class learning the "Hallelujah" song on the first day of school during worship

When I take him each morning, he takes off his coat and hangs it all by himself on a coat peg in the hallway outside his classroom.  Then all the kids and parents in the preschool meet for 15 minutes of "worship" (it's a Christian school) in one of the classrooms, lead by the head of the preschool.  They usually teach a bible story, lead us in songs that include sign language signs, and lead us in a prayer.  Then the parents get to hug their kids goodbye and the kids start their day by going potty (these teachers are smart!).  If the weather is good enough, they usually go immediately to the park for some time.  The teachers are all very kind and I feel like they really care for and enjoy the children.  In fact, due to Hurricane Sandy Andrew's school was closed for four of his school days.  When we returned, the head of the preschool said that all the teachers couldn't wait for the children to return to school.  Another example:  I send Andrew to school with sunglasses when it's sunny because his blue eyes are sensitive to the sun when playing outside.  I told the teachers about it and asked if it was ok.  I was afraid they would tell me "no" because they don't want to keep track of kids' extra stuff.  But Andrew's teacher said that they if it's something that helps Andrew, they would do their best to facilitate it.

I'm so glad we have a great place for Andrew to learn and grow and gain independence.  He was definitely ready for this next step in his development.  He's making lots of new friends, too.

Summer Vacation Part 2

Here's a wrap up of the rest of our summer vacation in Washington:

We had a family reunion with Paul's family, including a big family photo shoot.

Here's my cute niece, Melanie.  As my dad would say, "you look good in anything you eat."

Paul convinced his dad that re-doing his back deck would be a good family reunion project.  Here are Paul, Doug, and Steve hard at work.

The women-folk took care of the children and supervised from the hill.  The kids loved watching the construction.  At one point, they sat inside the upstairs sliding-glass door and watched the deck construction like TV while eating popcorn.

Heidi, Rebecca, and Lindsey

Paul's sister, Lindsey, watches the deck construction with Jeffrey and Andrew.

Here's my cute nephew, Jeffrey.

Andrew loved Melanie's car.  

"Hey, baby, do you want a ride?"

Jeffrey apparently didn't love it as much.

The speed demon in action.

There's Melanie again!

We had a girl's night in--playing games, eating huge ice cream sundae's created by my father-in-law, and laughing really, really hard.

Sister-in-law Jeanette's parents have a great backyard full of fun stuff for the grandkids 

Even the big kids enjoyed the teater-totter (here's brother-in-law Doug and my father-in-law Terry) 

Steve, Heidi, and Chris with baby Blake

Rebecca and Emma

Aunt Heidi and baby Blake