It's Fall

We took the kids to Country Junction, or what is there during the rebuilding process, on Monday. If you recall from a previous post, there was a huge fire that destroyed then entire, amazingly fun building. The kids were off school due to the holiday and we wanted to find something to do out of the house. It was a fun trip even though the place is just a shadow of it's former greatness. They are rebuilding though, so eventually it will stand again. They have rebuilt the petting zoo area and the kids enjoyed playing with the goats, alpacas (a new addition), geese, ducks and various other barnyard fowl. There is also an enlarged play area in the midst of the petting zoo, so evidently they are making some nice improvements as they rebuild. Inside the enourmous tent that is being used as the "store" part of the place it is still just as confusing as ever to get around in. It must be their trademark to have isles and stock strewn everywhichway making it easy to get lost. Getting lost in this place is fun though, so perhaps it is a marketing plan. The primary stock seems to be the home decor and holiday decor items, which I assume was always their biggest sellers. I miss the zillions of stuffed animals (the elephant!) and the "themed" areas of furniture, decor and the like... but it is what it is and we still got our $3 pumpkins. We try to get pumpkins each year. We don't celebrate Halloween (various reasons why and a post for another time) but I do love fall and harvest time, so the pumpkins add to our enjoyment of the season.

Another traditional fall event: Hannah and I picked apples on Saturday. I only got about half of what I got last year since moving will interupt things for a time. I have already made several batches of applesauce and two rounds of dry apple pies (think Hostess pies). Hannah made a pie and I also made crisp. We still have a good amount left, but they are dwindling.

All seems in order for our move. The inspections, mortgage and appraisal are all fine so it is really down to just waiting for the closing. Less than three weeks to go. We began making the calls to have the utilities turned on and set up phone and internet services... no cable TV though. Except for the three free months we got when we set up internet (cable) service here, we have been TVfree for over 10 years. I don't miss it at all and I don't think we will ever have TV again. The only time there has even been an urge for it is during World Cup time when Tim wants to see the games. We decided that is a perfect time to visit friends though ;) We do own a television set, but we only watch DVDs on it. Have I talked about our TV Picks jar? The kids each pick ten movies they want to see (from our collection here), Hannah only picks five because she occasionally gets to watch her own choices after the other kids are in bed. So all the picks go into a jar. During the school year, the kids get to draw one pick to watch after school on Friday, two after lunch on Saturday and two after lunch on Sunday. During the summer, it was one on Tuesday, one on Thursday, and 2 each on Saturday and Sunday. This has seriously cut down on the arguments over who gets a pick and the continual nagging of "can we watch a movie?". Anything that cuts down on arguments is a great thing in my book. So... anyhow, we are getting utilities set up.

I've been packing at least a box a day for several weeks now. It has helped me slow down and not freak out over all there is to do. We are getting down to the bare bones of it all though in that most of the stuff that is still out is stuff we are still using. The last couple of days will surely create several "panic pack" boxes, but hopefully it will be kept to a minimum.

Here are some pictures from Monday at Country Junction and one of Quin's first time to feed the deer...