See ya, schoolbooks. We're outta here!

Last Friday the boys and I took an EDUCATIONAL field trip to the North Carolina State Fair. We picked up the groom and his bride who happened to be off work and headed out for an exciting, scholastic, enriching afternoon in Raleigh.
Lots of pictures, so you may want to pause and get a cup of coffee before you begin:

This picture is first because it's my favorite. :)

I did a little research and made a list of things to do so that we would be able to see as many different exhibits as we could and still have fun. We got almost everything on the list done. One thing we couldn't find, but made it to every other one!

a tolouse goose. I spelled it wrong on the list. :)

The most popular food booth. The boys joined in the crowd.

fried alligator

fried Snickers

checking our handwashing skills at Germ City

None of us are really big  ride-lovers but this giant slide definitely checked off the 20-feet in the air item!

This sharpshooter hit 9 baloons in a row!

And won Dave, the Minion, who now accompanies us everywhere, just so we can say, "DAVE, listen up, please!" in our best Gru voices.... (Despicable Me for those of you who just said, "huh?")

harvested some North Carolina crops, which wasn't on the list, but a fun bonus

every reserve grand champion turkey deserves to have his picture taken.

yes, yes, that is who you think it is.

cheesecake on a stick

we had to rest our legs occasionally

a giant tree just like out of Lord of the Rings

the Lego competition was a favorite





We learned a lot, ate a lot, walked a lot, and had a LOT of fun. :)

Fall is fun

Hmmm, somehow I got a week behind. It could be because we are having so much fun here in the beautiful North Carolina fall (have I mentioned how much I love it here? I do.) We've had a lot going on and just about every single bit of it has been fun.
Here's an update on last week:

Joshua and I went to a big antique fair in Cameron, NC. Dave, who was on his way back from taking Nick up to MD to go on a college visitation trip with some friends to Wisconsin, came over and met us. It was (another) beautiful day out. We ate homemade ice cream, bought some freshly ground cornmeal (the cornbread we made from it was sooooo delicious), perused hundreds of antique shops and booths, and enjoyed a barbecue lunch at a picnic table. It was a great day.

one of these awesome knights now resides on our landing

Jarrett came down on Dave's birthday to celebrate with him and he brought some timely reading material. We're all getting ready for the coming basketball season!

We had the bigger celebration a few days later. Started it off with a "girly girl" (as named by Joshua) pedicure at a spa. I was prohibited from taking any photos of the actual event, but there is a certain big, tough soldier who sure seemed to enjoy the pampering. Some ball-throwing in the front yard, followed by some football on tv, then grilled steaks and baked potatoes, and a lively game of tennis finished off the day.

watching the action



seeing if there are any cool cards in the packs Alyson sent



Nick got Dad a Clean Bottle! If you've ever watched the Tour de France you've seen them-and he's been wanting one for a year. :) Joshua got him a bottle holder for his bike so he's all set now.

Awesome stone from his mom and dad. Our front entry looks so nice!

Happy birthday, Daddyy-o! We love you!

In 14hundred and ninety-two...

and 93 and 98 and 1502, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Those last 3 voyages don't get as much press. Columbus was a complicated character, we discovered today in our research into his other voyages. Deeply religious, cruel at times, determined, resillient, a poor governor, loyal, depressed....there is much more to Christopher Columbus than 3 ships and a poem.

We had fun reading about him today and even more fun having "holiday school" activities to mark the day. I bought a fun guide called "History of Holidays" from Homeschool In the Woods and this was our first activity from it. We are keeping all of our activities (the non-perishable ones, anyway) in a big binder so at the end of the year we will have a whole book of holiday celebrations!

working hard

mixing dough

 We made two different kinds of cookies today. The first is a Spanish cookie called Polvorones, made with ground almonds. The second is an Italian cookie (a nod to Columbus' roots) called Italian Cheese Cookies, made with ricotta cheese and a little glaze. They are both tasty, but the Italian ones are DELISH.

Italian cookies on the left, Spanish cookies on the right

Joshua painted a flag representative of the Royal Standard flag Columbus planted in San Salvadore on his first voyage

We made a map with 4 overlays showing the routes taken on the 4 different voyages

One of the most fun activities of the day was the spice chart! Daddy got to participate in this one with us. They each got to smell a spice to see if they could guess what it was, then we looked up the origins of the spices and any interesting information we could find about them. Some of those spices were more valuable than gems in Columbus' time!



A happy boy with his completed projects



Home Cookin'

My grandma was known for several things-one of them was what she cooked for all of us kids and cousins who spent many holidays and summers at her house. Everyone remembers her banana pudding, and I don't think there was a single family get-together that we did not have a full course Thanksgiving meal, no matter what the season. She would cook up pretty much anything we asked for-particularly memorable was the summer (aunt) Lori and I decided we had to eat chicken livers every day. She didn't bat an eye...

There was really something comforting about knowing what to expect when we went to Grandma's house. We knew she would put blankets at the bottoms of our sleeping bags, even when there were 8 kids sleeping in the room and it was a thousand degrees, we knew that grandma would make us new barbie clothes if we asked her, and we knew what we would be eating while we were there. It made me feel welcome and comfortable and loved.

With my children growing and moving on and coming back just for visits, and with so many dinner guests and opportunities to minister to other families here, I want to have some go-to meals. Meals that my kids will KNOW they will get to enjoy when they come home, traditional Gercken Battery meals that they can count on and that our friends and family will feel welcomed by. Meals that I can make for new moms or new neighbors and not even have to peruse Pinterest to decide what I'm making. I love to cook and try new things; I just want to make sure to create traditions at the same time.

There are a few things I make by request when everyone is together. Bratwurst and spaetzle for sure, but that's not really a recipe-just good memories. Pecan-crusted chicken tenders (Rachel Ray) is another favorite. Another big favorite, and I guess probably something that would fall into the "comfort food" category, is Coal Miner's Pasta (also Rachel Ray). I usually make that when kids are home and often when guests come over. Nick would say lasagna, I think. Last week I made baked spaghetti for two families-one recovering from surgery and one moving into a new house, and it was received well. Almost as well as the pumpkin dump cake (Pinterest)

recipe

I made to go along with it. I made a recipe (also Pinterest) last week called "Man Pleasing Chicken" and it definitely was!

recipe

That is for-sure going on our regular rotation and I think will be a "company's coming" meal as well.

In non-food related news, we had a wonderful weekend in Wilmington. We should definitely do that more often!

Our door was "Boo-ed" by someone a few nights ago. That means Joshua got a bag of little treats and now has to "Boo" someone else in the neighborhood. It's supposed to be a surprise so we have to sneak out after dark.

A good friend from wayyyy back in our Fort Campbell days dropped in for dinner and a visit a couple days ago. It was so great to reconnect. Those friendships that pick right up where they left off are the best.

Nick is off to Wisconsin this week on a college visitation. And he is actually excited about going someplace he needs a coat. Go figure....