The Beauty of Fall

On Sunday, after church, we all went to Brad's annual company picnic.  It was a little bittersweet for us this year, knowing that it would be our last year to be invited to the picnic.  THE REASON BEING is that Brad is no longer a contractor. On October 9th, Brad was appointed and officially became a Title 42 employee!

His job is the same but there are some great benefits that go along with being a Federal employee. A couple of the ones that we are most excited about are the increased job security and a couple more vacation and sick days (which we could definitely use). It is a great blessing to Brad and our family.  We praise God for His goodness to us.

After the picnic, our family invited one of Brad's work friends and his wife to join us at the local
Homestead Farm for apple picking.

The girl's daddy makes a great ladder to get up the high-up apples.
While we were at the orchards, we discovered a bird's nest!

We took the nest out of the tree, so we all could see it up closer.  Here Mrs. Linda and Mr. Nick are showing the girls all the different materials a bird uses to make its nest.

The next day after our discovery of the nest, I read The Apple Tree by Zoe Hall. It was the perfect book to read to the girls, especially because it included an explanation of how and when the robins build their nest in an apple tree.

"From bud to fruit, two children follow the cycle of an apple tree as it is nurtured through the seasons. The book incorporates the role of bees and the weather in the production of the fruit. Another use of the tree is shown, as a pair of robins build their nest and begin a family...Appended with an explanation of pollination and a recipe for apple pie, this will make a perfect choice for fall story hours and primary science lessons."

A family photo of us at the apple orchard.

After our apple picking, all the girls enjoyed playing in the hay! 

My three girls at the orchard. :-)

Then it was goat feeding time! Anna and Faith were both a little frightened by the curious goat.

But both the girls warmed up...

and eventually were able to feed the goat a little apple.

By the end of their time with the goats, Anna was carrying on little conversations with her new friends.

"Bye-bye baby Goat!"

On Wednesday, I took the girls for a short break at the mall for a Family Fun Day craft  Each of the girls decorated a jar for their own Nature Collection. On that same day, Faith found a dead butterfly. Though it was sad the butterfly was dead, it was a great opportunity to study the butterfly up close.


Although the butterfly Faith found was not a Monarch Butterfly, this book, Monarch Butterfly of Aster Way shared some great general information about ALL butterflies.  It also shared the fascinating journey and migration of the Monarchs! The girls really enjoyed this book and we read it a few times over the next few days.