As you can see I took a break from blogging over the past month… but I didn’t want to miss sharing my favourite things from September!

Read

I cut back on my reading, but I did write down the titles of some picture books that we particularly enjoyed: Squish!: A Wetland Walk, Harold Loves His Woolly Hat, On Sand Island, Pippo Gets Lost, and Sharing (don’t underestimate this simple board book — I loved reading it out loud in funny voices).

Do

For us September always means back to school, so we were busy with that, but we also had a lot of weekend adventures. (I had my birthday too; this year I had five ladies over to play a game, drink tea, and eat cake.)

We went to Long Lake to hike with Andrew’s parents. First we bought amazing doughnuts in Tupper Lake, then we climbed Buck Mountain (including a fire tower), ate a picnic lunch at Buttermilk Falls, visited an Adirondack Interpretive Center, and stopped at Hoss’s Country Corner.

The following weekend we attended the Adirondack Hot Air Balloon Festival! On Friday night there was a breeze that prevented the balloons from flying, but the kids eagerly collected trading cards from the pilots. We stayed in a motel and got up before 5:30 for the morning event. It was definitely worth it! We saw dozens of balloons up close and got such a thrill out of watching them float away (especially when we knew their names).

By 9:00 the balloons were done (until evening) so we headed into Glens Falls. We were able to visit the Hyde Museum for free. It’s both a historic house and a contemporary art gallery; we saw works by Picasso, Renoir, Durer, Rembrandt, and more. After an hour there we went to the World Awareness Children’s Museum which had hands-on activities representing different parts of the world from Thailand to France to Mexico. It was very nicely done.

Our next stop was a rabbit sanctuary where the kids got to hold bunnies. Across the street we purchased Cooper’s Cave sodas and took them to Cooper’s Cave, named after James Fenimore Cooper, who featured the cave in The Last of the Mohicans. It was disappointing not to get a good look at the cave, though there were interesting interpretive signs. Before we reached home we stopped at the Frenchman’s Bakery for a baguette and pastries and at an Adirondack-themed carousel.

Mid-week I took the kids to the Adirondack Experience for Homeschool Day. I was hesitant because it’s a little over two hours from our house, but we had such a great time. The museum has five separate galleries, plus historic buildings and a small fire tower, a trout pond, railway car, and auditorium (we got to do some contra dancing with Gretchen Koehler!). The kids enjoyed trying out the lawn games, watching a man build a canoe, and pumping water into wooden buckets. I was impressed by the Adirondack art and found the history of logging and recreation very interesting.

Just last Saturday we climbed Cascade Mountain, which took us five hours (including snack breaks). Unfortunately it was foggy at the top, so we didn’t have a view, but it was still neat to make it to the top of my first Adirondack High Peak (45 to go!). After the hike we visited friends from church, which included swimming in a cold lake, soaking in a wood-fired hot tub, kayaking, paddle-boating, eating, singing, making a bonfire, setting off fireworks, and fishing. A full day indeed.

Eat

My birthday cake was this pear spice cake with brown butter frosting. (FYI I doubled the cake and used two 9″ pans, made 1 1/2 times the pear compote, and one batch of icing.) The kids foraged the pears in the neighbourhood so that was neat.

The church fellowship dinner theme was food from a favourite book, which I loved. We took biscuits to represent Little Britches and To Kill a Mockingbird, chocolate chip cookies and milk (If You Give a Mouse a Cookie), and gingerbread cake with orange syrup (Hansel and Gretel). (We’ll have to bring meat and vegetables next time!)

We caught two large mouth bass in Joe Indian Pond and took them home to eat. Cleaning them was a new experience for me and they tasted pretty good.

Grow

Our lettuce, spinach, and kale are doing great. We ate some more broccoli. We have lots of tomatoes and bell peppers, the jalapeno count is not yet complete, and we still have beets and carrots to harvest too. I’d call the fall garden a success.

Meditate

“In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
    for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” – Psalm 4:8

What are your September favourites?