St. Patrick's Day

For not drinking, and not being Catholic- we sure do know how to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!
Saturday started out with a surprise couple of inches of snow!
We were not deterred in going to the St Patrick's Day parade.

The bagpipers

 

 

 

I love the Irish dancers

So much green!

 

Making rainbows with Daddy.

She was mostly interesting in eating the skittles.

Aren't we crafty?

Rainbow Pancakes with a bacon rainbow on top!

Toxins from food coloring you say?
Not on St Patrick's Day!

Daddy dancing to Celtic music in the kitchen

Join in the Jig!

Watch out for the 'wee people

My 'wee little lass in her green 'fairy' dress

Corned beef, potatoes, carrots...

...and cabbage (with bacon).
Delicious!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Abra Kadabra!

Sophia chasing Rick with her wand, saying "abra Kadabra" and getting him to freeze. Squeals of laughter.

Mommy & Me

The older Sophia gets, the more personality she has.

And she's quickly becoming my best buddy and side-kick. 

She is so much fun, and we just love to talk and play all day.

Here we are cuddling on the couch after her nap on a rainy day.

Taking pictures is a favorite past time of ours.

I always do Sophia's hair while she eats breakfast.

So she decided she needed to do mine as well.

Only fair, I suppose.

Us at the butterfly exhibit at the mall.

We got to hold the butterflies- so fun!

Sophia and Esley examining closely the butterfly.

Side note: this is as close to the Easter bunny as this girl would get.

So much for Easter pictures!

Haha!

Henry Ford - 2nd Monday

Every 2nd Monday at the Henry Ford is Pre-Schooler day basically.

Crafts and fun times.

Here's Sophie with her crown testing out a Ford.

Nicole and I perusing the gift shop.

Definitely buying these.

She loves airplanes.

So much, she wants to be one!

Driving the combine- now that's 'big girl's' work

Maple Sugaring

We went to the Kensington Metropark Farm to learn about one of Michigan's trades...

...Maple Sugaring!!

(and yes, that is really how you say it)

A "sugar bush"
aka- a bunch of maple trees all together

Sophia learning about how to recognize a maple tree in the winter

Grrr..
It's cold out here.

Spiking the tree
Drill, baby, drill!

We got to taste the fresh sap coming out.
Basically sugar water with a 'maple-y' hint to it.

And the bucket to catch that juicy gold.
You may be thinking- "that doesn't look so hard. I bet I can make my own syrup"

Well, first look at this.
Then decide it's much easier to go buy some at the store.

Watching them boil down the syrup.

In the "Evaporator" (actual name).

And we got to taste some!

Mmmmm!
So good!

Learning about how people in Olden Times made Maple Sugar.
They didn't make syrup because they couldn't store it.
So they would make sugar bricks and eat basically only sugar during the winter months.
Talk about awesome!

This little re-enactor collecting the sap.
So cute.

Old school maple tap.

Playing around in the barn house.

Rick carting the milk pails.
He just needs some long braids and wooden clogs. No?

And we came at the best time to the farm, because all of the baby animals were just born this last week.
3 day old lamb!

Sophia was so happy.

2 day old piglets!!
Oh my gosh- I wanted to take one home.

Bunny!

More lambs.

Fun day down at the farm!

Chopsticks.

Level: Expert