Apple Orchard

We went to Wilson's Apple Orchard on Dingleberry Road (that's right, Dingleberry Road ;) today. It was a fun time riding on the tractor trailer and going for a tour of the orchard, though we've been there many times before. Adi enjoyed the part where we got "stuck" in the stream. Very cute and clever.

We spotted this gigantor wasp nest in a Burgundy apple tree. They just built their nest right around the apple! Crazy. Look how beautiful it is, all the swirls and colors. It's a work of bug art!

Adi is chowing down on an apple. I really thought I'd be able to eat far more apples than I did while we were picking. My main goal was to get as many half-way decent looking Ginger Gold apples as possible (they are all blemished because of hail storms). I did taste a couple varieties but found a new favorite early season apple in the Ginger Gold. I'm still a huge fan of the Honey Crisp so I'll definitely be back as soon as they email me and let me know they're ready (thank goodness for mailing lists and being laid off from work!)

A trip to the orchard isn't complete without a photo of Adi and Daddy. So sweet!

Omega-3 DHA

I've been wanting to write about a product I'm using and love for quite a while but trying to maintain three blogs has made it difficult for me to do much more than post photos. So something I've been taking off and on for years now is omega-3 supplements. I used to take Zone Perfect brand for a long time because they used molecular distillation and a superior form of vitamin E. Then at the beginning of the year when Cam decided to try giving vegetarianism a shot, we decided together that we were going to cut fish from our diets as well. When I made that change I went on the hunt for a vegan source of omega-3 and DHA, which are essential for brain development and function. What I found is Deva Vegan DHA derived from algae (which is where the fish get the DHA from).

When I first started taking fish oils I would have "salmon burps" all day after taking the capsules in the morning. It didn't take long for me to decide to switch to taking the supplements at night just before bed. I noticed almost immediately that I started to sleep more easily and much more deeply when taking the fish oils. I've never read anything about this so I don't know if it happens to anyone else, but it was very apparent to me. If I ran out and didn't replenish my supply for a while I would start to have sleep issues and I'd always wonder, "what is up? Why can't I sleep?" Then as soon as I started taking my supplements again within several days my sleep patterns would smooth back out.

A friend of mine was just telling me last weekend that she started taking fish oil at night before bed as a result of hearing me talk about it. Her baby nurses early in the morning (I think around 3 or 4) and she could never get back to sleep until she started taking the fish oils. Now she's sleeping after nursing again! Phenomenal!! And the fact that her baby is going to benefit from the omega-3's through her breast milk is equally exciting to me.

So hearing this from my friend sparked an idea. Maybe if the omega-3 thing works for me and works for my friend, it might just work for my daughter as well!!! So yesterday I went to the co-op and got some Nordic Naturals Children's DHA softgels. They have a strawberry essence flavor and she thinks it's the most special thing in the world to get to eat them. They pop in her mouth when she bites down, kinda like Gushers, I guess :) They aren't vegan, but neither is Adi. She "chooses" to eat wild caught salmon when Papa grills it for her and after a ton of debate I'm now OK with that. I haven't noticed any help in the sleep arena yet, but it usually takes a few days so I'm super hopeful! I'll post updates as I note changes (or lack thereof).

Visiting

We went to Newton to visit Grandma Marsha and Grandpa Mike White on Friday, and Cam did a little tilling so Grandma could get her plants in the ground before the season gets too late. As usual, Adi wanted more than anything to hang out with Bunny the bird.

We had our dog Ihry with us as well so I don't know if she was freaking Bunny out or what but Bunny didn't want to be held (by me anyway) so I had a hard time helping Adi with her. I got bit several times and gave up after a while. At least she got to hold her for a little while... Then it was time for yard work.

Cam and I felt completely blessed by an unexpected and delicious raw meal prepared by Grandma Marsha. We, by no means, expect others to accommodate our choice to eat only raw food for a little over 3 months so it was a pleasant surprise when she and Mike sat down to a raw meal with us. Thank you, Marsha. The food was fantastic and we truly were blessed more than words can express.

I love this photo of Adi in her Ariel pj's with her grandparents. Grandma Marsha had successfully (we hope) washed all the manure out of her hair after flinging some in the air while spreading it in the garden to till in! Ha ha.

Monarch Caterpiller

Our next door neighbor Jonathan was kind enough to let Adi have one of the monarch caterpillars from his garden. Adi LOVES caterpillars so much that she often squishes them to death. Happens to the best of us I suppose. I was on high guard of this little guy, though. I told her it was very special and she asked, "to who?" I told her it was very special to me because it would soon turn into a mariposa butterfly and she had to be VERY gentle with it. We proceeded to transfer the caterpillar to our own milkweed plant in our garden which has so far been uninhabited by monarchs.

I think the Butterfly kisses shirt Adi is wearing is very appropriate.

Here's Adi with a milkweed leaf and the hungry caterpillar (the holes in the leaf are from other bugs).

Once I convinced Adi to let the caterpillar go to his new home on our milkweed plant it didn't take him long to find a spot to start chowing down on what must have been some tasty "milk". First thing this morning Adi wanted to go outside in the rain and check on her new friend. I made her wait until it was time to go to preschool and we were both relieved to see him there on the underside of a leaf, protected from the rain.

Adi Goes to Preschool

So last night Cam had to work because it was his co-worker's night off so Nana, Adi and I went to Treebrook Preschool's "Ice Cream" Social. It was pretty cool. The "ice cream" was made from frozen bananas with no other added ingredients. We make it using our Samson juicer all the time and love it. Everyone was shocked that it was just bananas because it's so creamy and wonderful. A super healthy ice cream substitute.

I already did all my crying about Adi going to preschool a couple of weeks ago when we were deciding whether or not to send her and where to send her so I was fine but Nana, on the other hand... well, I'll just leave it at that ;) Here's Adi and Nana on our walk to the "Ice Cream" Social: And Adi is enjoying whole grain cookies with her new friend Sophie.
This morning we took Adi to school and here's a photo of her just before we headed down the path to the school which is located in the basement of a ranch style home. Check out her cute lunch bag. She picked it out herself. I tried to talk her into getting the rockin bag with a cool swirly design and a guitar on it but she wanted the apple and cherries.
Daddy is walking Adi down the path to school.
Adi and her classmates are having some instrument time. We stayed for the Music and Me class (or whatever it's called). Adi wasn't ready to participate with the singing part but give her an instrument and she's a happy bee.
So after music class Cam and I left our little girl at preschool in the hands of her teachers. I hope she likes it there even more than she expected. When we gave her the choice between Kirkwood School for Children ("Hippy Daycare" in the nicest form of the term), Willowwind and Treebrook she was adament that she wanted to go to Treebrook. We trust her intuition and so it is. Our baby is growing up!

Flopping Like a Fish

Adi loves it when I hold her upside down so she can flop like a fish. It's hilarious, as you can tell, I can't stop laughing. I'm not sure if this video really does it justice, but it was requsted so here you go, Ma.

Raw Ramblings

So as Cam and I are doing this 100 days raw thing which is going so unbelievably well, I thought I'd show you all a sampling of a couple of our favorites so far.

This is a picture of all of us with green smoothie mustaches. Adi wouldn't drink smoothies until recently but she's grown rather fond of them lately. Good thing, too, since we've been having them daily (don't worry, we still feed her too ;)

These are some banana/apricot crepes with nut cream and strawberry sauce. It's basically banana/apricot fruit leathers filled with blended nuts, vanilla and agave and topped with strawberries and agave. Holy moly this stuff was amazing!

Adi preferred hers as a fruit leather rolled up (otherwise known as a fruit roll-up) and she dipped it in the cream and sauce. Whatever works ;)

So if you haven't checked out the raw blog lately, it's worth a visit to see what else we're eating. It's hard to believe we're eating all uncooked food that's only been processed in our kitchen and at temps below 115. It's not as hard this time as it was in the past. Must be because it's summer and we're better prepared this time.

French Twish

I can't bring myself to cut Adi's hair. We've considered donating to Locks of Love but that would result in at least 10" of her amazing hair gone! I just can't do it. Not yet. She's not pushing the issue so I won't either!!

My temporary solution (since she hates pony tails) is the French Twist with a cute butterfly clip.

She doesn't mind it at all. She leaves it in for hours at a time!! This is a huge deal since pony tails rarely last more than 20 minutes.

So now when Adi is working on her creative artwork, her hair stays out of her face and her paint ;)

Adi in the Garden

It's been so hot and muggy that it's been hard to be outside for long. Adi and I decided to spend some time in the garden last night.

As you can see Adi is a huge fan of the flowers. She likes to dead head the lilies for me. Such a good helper ;)

Not sure what she's doing but it looks like she's getting ready to spit. I like this photo!

And don't forget the watering of the flowers.