Maple Weekend

This month we were able to experience our very first Maine Maple Weekend!  It was so neat, and I now understand why maple syrup is so incredibly expensive. If you look closely you can see all the buckets on the trees.

The first place we went to was Hilltop Boilers.  They do things the old fashioned way...by drilling holes in their trees and letting it drip into buckets.  Then they collect the buckets, distill it, and finally get maple syrup.  I guess it takes tons of collected sap to equal just a pint of syrup... and you can only collect sap in March, when the sap is frozen at night and thaws enough to drain during the day.  If you wait until it gets too warm, then the sap tastes woody.  Also, maple sap spoils like milk, so it has to be consistently gathered to prevent that from happening.   And you get different grades of syrup depending on the health of the tree.  I will never complain about the cost of pure maple syrup again!

This is the shed that housed the huge boiler.  The kids were very impressed.

Mia loved the barn... there was a baby calf that was born 2 days before we went.  She was so excited!  The mother cow was not. :)

I was so, so proud of my brave boy.  There was a contest where kids could run an obstacle course with a bucket of "maple sap" (water).  Logan usually freaks out whenever he thinks anyone is watching him, but this kid really wanted the candy bar at the end!  He ran as fast as he could, even with lots of people looking on.  He's growing up!  Maybe that means he will play a sport this year. :)

We drove to the western border of Maine to get to this particular maple farm.  There were buckets tied to trees all over the forests!

There were tons and tons of free samples... maple pancakes, maple whoopie pies, maple ice cream, maple cotton candy.... We instantly fell in love with maple whoopie pies and promptly consumed far too many. :)

We also had to pick up some yummy syrup..... 

The second farm we visited did things a little differently... they had tubes running through each tree, all over the farm, that all led straight to the boiler.  Much more efficient, but not nearly as fun to look at. 

Maine has old churches like this around every other corner.  They are so pretty!  And next to every church is a super old graveyard, with gravestones so old the writing is worn off.  The ones we can read date to the early 1800's. 

Maple cotton candy!

And a Mia. :)

It's another GIRL!

We found out on St Patrick's Day that we are having another little princess!  We love her so much already, and Logan and Mia ask me every day when she is coming out so they can hold her.  Logan is always talking to her, and asking me what size of fruit she is. :)  Mia regularly makes me lay down, pulls up my shirt and covers my belly in all her jewelry.  Then she sings the Little Mermaid song to the baby.  It's probably a very good thing this is a girl!  Mia is also currently convinced that her little sister will be a mermaid.  :)  

The kids came with us to the ultrasound, and when we arrived, I told Mia that we were going to see the baby.  She got super excited, and started going on and on about how she was going to give the baby a binky and kiss its little cheeks.  She was NOT impressed that we only got to see the baby via ultrasound. :)  The ultrasound tech let Logan man the ultrasound machine for a while, and he was actually the only one that was able to get a picture of the baby's gender!  The tech had tried for an hour before, and the stubborn little girl kept her legs closed tight the whole time.  But, as soon as Logan put the thing on my belly, she revealed very clearly exactly what she was. We joked that she wanted to rub it in her brother's face, since he was rooting for a boy. :)

Growing Up

These kids are growing up so fast!

Logan

Loves the dentist, sat calmly through his whole cleaning, and is in the no cavity club!

Also, this boy now has his very first loose tooth!  Ahhh!  I don't know why that makes me feel more like an actual adult, but it does!

He is an expert at our new found sport of Candle Pinning... 

He shovels the slowly melting snow for us :)

And look!!! No training wheels!  He is getting so good at it, and can go for little spurts now without Ry holding on.  My little man is growing up!

Mia

This girl bravely made it through her first dental experience.  Mommy had to hold her tight, but she followed every command, and it also in the no cavity club!  Woohoo!

Whenever it gets above freezing, Mia asks, "Can I ride my bike now?"

This lady is almost potty trained!  I, however, made the mistake of giving her chocolate chips one day as a reward for pooping in the potty.  Mia is a chocolate addict.  The next day, she wanted chocolate chips, but had already pooped.  The little girl sat on the toilet for over an hour, straining and screaming, because she wanted chocolate chips.  I finally had to drag her off and create extraordinary distractions because I was worried she would give herself hemorrhoids.

This is her "doctor outfit."  Ever since the dentist trip she asks me to lay down, to watch my Mickey Mouse shows, and goes through every single thing the dental hygienist did to her. :)

Apparently 40 degrees is warm enough for squirt guns.

Mia is also an excellent candle pinning player. :)  It is just like bowling, but with small balls.  Apparently, it can only be found in Canada and the northeast, and the kids love it!

Mia is getting so big at riding her bike!  We still have to pull it, but she is starting to pedal other own!

Cold, cold March

How we keep entertained in this seemingly never ending cold. :)

We make slime!

And go to the children's museum...

we gaze longingly at the snow covered beaches...

Logan writes stories... "War Story 167"

"They began to fight!  The vampires, the guns, the monsters and robots all began to fight.  The wanted the trophy because it was silver and golden and could make anything you wanted.  They kept fighting until the master walked in and said none of them could have the trophy.  They were all so sad.  But then, a pirate named Logan, who was still a child, walked in and gave them all his trophies.  They were so happy that they walked into a cave and gave him a pirate sword."

"Then a bad guy came in.  He took all their swords and trophies.  Then, Logan came in, and threw the bad guy into jail.  It was morning time, and they all woke up to a brilliant surprise....Logan and the bad guy were fighting again!  But then a police officer came in and threw the bad guy back into jail.  Then Logan came out and said, "Good work officer!"  Then the police officer tried to get Logan and released the bad guy! He was actually a bad guy!  Then the bad guy woke up and realized he was still in prison.  It was all just a dream."

"The end"

He is getting so great at writing his letters!  And his little imagination is crazy.  I was pretty impressed with his twist ending at the end.  Silly man. 

The kids play ninjas

More Children's Museum..

Logan and Mia were in charge of the treats for FHE the other night.  They made us chocolate cake. :)