Maple Sugaring

This is Pennsylvania maple syrup--mmm mmm good.

This was a demonstration, around the colonial era, of how they cooked the sap down into maple syrup.

In this demonstration, the men cooked rocks on an open fire, to heat them up. They then placed them in the cut out log filled with sap. This is how the American Indians would have cooked down the sap.

You can see the jug attached to the tree. It is partially filled with the sap.

It takes 40 gallons of sugar maple sap to get 1 gallon of maple syrup.

This was a Maple Sugaring event that we went to at a local state park. Talk about a great find. For $1 per person, we were given a grand tour and demonstration of how the maple sugaring process works and the history behind it. The girls also participated in a taste testing and craft time. Then at the end, we all got pancakes with you guessed it maple syrup drizzled on top. It was a very educational activity, but oh so much fun. My middle daughter even got to help 'tap' a tree. The girls were so impressed with this activity. We extended it at home with making books (which still aren't done, thanks to me), hopefully they will be done by next maple sugar season--haha.

Sadie and the Snowman

This was our second bout of snow back in the beginning of February 2010, before the real snow came--over 50 some inches!! Anyway, we had been reading the book Sadie and the Snowman over and over again this winter. Absolutely love this book and so do the girls. The girls were so excited when it snowed and we got to create our own snowman. It ended up being a day in the low 40's and enjoyed making a snowman with very little bundling in the way of scarves, mittens, hats, etc. The girls chose what to accessorize him with. Chocolate chip cookies for the eyes and buttons, licorice for the smile, and a healthy choice a carrot for the nose. They decided he wasn't quite complete until he had scarf, hat, and arms. They endearingly named him Mr. Frosty. It was so much fun. I think I had just as much or even more fun then they did. They also enjoyed snacking on the goodies while creating him.

Snow Garden

The weather has been absolutely beautiful this past weekend. We didn't get out to actually enjoy it too much, so yesterday afternoon the girls and I decided to have an afternoon snack picnic. This is what ended up becoming of our snack picnic, a snow garden. I was cleaning up some left over fall flower bed debris, when they decided to use it to plant. They took the stalks and meticulously dug a hole in the snow and planted each one. By the time they had finished, there were over 25 stalks planted in our left over snow. They had such a wonderful time. The idea of not having to wear bulky hats, mittens, and coats, yet still play in the snow was an overwhelmingly joyous occasion. It also made me crave the arrival of spring to start our 'real' garden, which by the looks of it they will be very enthusiastic!!