"Mama"

He's been babbling for a while now, but it has seemed to pick up in the past week or so. I've heard "mama" and maybe even a "dada" before. But yesterday it was the word of the day. Over and over and over... reminded me of that episode of Family Guy... here's that clip I'm talking about  :-P


Yesterday I tried to capture the "mama mama" on video but every time I'd bring it out he'd go silent. I finally got it today. He was going on and on and of course he stopped as soon as I hit record. But he picks back up at the end of the clip:


We had to break out a bib again because his drool is rather insane. I think he's cutting his front two teeth which would make 5 & 6 on the tooth count.

Closed hole

Our contractor sent someone over to close up the hole. It's only temporary for tonight but enough to keep mice from getting in. He'll be back to insulate and do a permanent fix tomorrow.

Apple Cider weekend in La Crosse

Sorry this post has been delayed. I wanted to get all the photos together before I posted so it could just be one long post.

Labor Day weekend we traveled down to La Crosse, Wisconsin to stay with some friends. Our friends Nate & Bri invited us to Bri's parents house to help pick apples and make cider. We had a SUPER fun time and really enjoyed meeting Bri's family, her parents and two younger sisters. We ate some amazing food and learned all about the cider making process.

It was about a two hour or so drive there, Isaac did great in the car. Slept the first bit, then he needed a little attention the remainder of the way so I sat in back with him.


We arrived and had lunch, then got about our apple picking duties






Isaac had fun digging the apples out of the bucket




and knocking them over :-)




We all got to see this dear grazing the neighbors back yard


This year was unique because of the early frost the apple quantity was sparse! Normally they have buckets and buckets full of nice, plump, healthy apples and they toss any of the ones with the slightest sign of rubbage. Since there weren't many apples, we were keeping whatever we could find and would just cut out the bad parts. They usually don't pick from a few of the back trees but since we were practically hunting the apples we went ahead and picked from all the trees.




Once we picked all that we could, it was time to start the cider process.


First, like I mentioned, we cut out any bad part and tossed the bad pieces in the wheelbarrow to be composted then tossed the good parts in the wire baskets.




Isaac helped to inspect the good apples




The good apples would then get dunked in a mild bleach/water solution and then put in the top of this cider press where they would be blended.






Then the apple juices would come out aka cider ;-)


Once the barrel had a good amount of apple in it, they would take the press and hook it up and twist it down. Then the juices would REALLY start to flow!






Then it was strained into gallon jugs


It was a neighborhood gathering as well. Some of the neighbor kids were eagerly awaiting for us to start so they could come help.


Isaac sleeping:


not for long though, he had a lot of fun






When all was said and done we had 11 gallons of cider. A very slim outcome compared to their typical 60-70 gallon haul.


family photo


Bri's folks also had a pool. So after our hard work, not so hard since there weren't that many apples... we went for a swim








Here's Kyle with Isaac and Nate with their niece Harlow.


Isaac like floating around with Bri




Even though it was a gorgeous day, it was a little chilly when we got out of the water.




That evening we had a wonderful meal and sat around the camp fire visiting.

The next morning we all got up and around and headed to church. Here is Isaac making friends with Harlow.


And Isaac sleeping after church


Before we went back to Bri's parents, we went up to Grandfather's bluff to look out over La Cross at the amazing views.




A cool little bit of history, my ancestors came to La Crosse from Bohemia back in the late 1800's. I even have some buried here in the local Catholic Cemetery.


So we stopped by to check it out.


I'll have to do more research for next time we come here because we weren't able to find the names I was looking for. We did find a Stanek, but not the ones in my family line.


Baby Stanek


It was kinda weird walking the cemetery, but also kinda cool. Neat to be looking for family and how small the world is that I was in the area that my great, great, great grand parents were/are.


We came back to the house and had some down time. Relaxing and letting the babies play




We headed home that evening after supper. It was a super fun weekend and we were very thankful Bri invited us to share that time with her family!