Big Trip to Idaho: Part 1

We took a lovely trip to the most wonderful place in the world: Idaho.  Daddy traveled first with the kids:

Each of the kids got a paint by sticker book, which they love and which take a lot of time to complete.  They also got new headphones, and we checked out 15 audiobooks from the library, which each come preloaded on a small handheld mp3 player.  Between the sticker books and stories, it was enough to keep them happy on long flights...

And on 9 hour layovers...

Some of us found time for naps during the layover.

In Idaho there were many opportunities for bedtime stories with Grandma and Grandpa:

The local park was a big hit (walking distance from the grandparents' house):

As was the Nature Center, where we saw lots of fish, including this sturgeon that has been there since Daddy was a kid:

This bench shows how big the sturgeon is:

Near the Nature Center there is a little beach on the Boise River, good for some wading:

No trip to Boise is complete without a day or too at the Natatorium, riding the Hydrotube:

Daddy shows proper tube discharge position:

Grandma and Grandpa have lots of things to play with, including play-dough:

And grandpa led a painting session in his studio:

We got together with some of daddy's good friends:

We visited the World Center for Birds of Prey, where we saw lots of cool and/or endangered birds:

Including a bald eagle:

An Ornate Hawk-Eagle

A Turkey Vulture (we see lots of these where we live):

Two giant California Condors:

Also, goldfish:

This is a Harpy Eagle:

And of course the Peregrine Falcon:

There were some live shows with a big owl (Verreaux's Eagle-owl):

And a tiny screech owl:

This is a view of the City of Boise from the Birds of Prey center:

The backyard sprinkler at the grandparents house was always good for some fun:

We spotted this lizard hiding in some cinder-block wall at church:

Cousins started to arrive, pictionary was played:

Another wading adventure in the Boise River:

A pair of red-haired oldest children:

We found a good log for jumping off:

L and L chasing ducks

A picked up some piano skills from her cousins:

And we played at Daddy's elementary school:

Farm Fresh: Canning, Cantaloupes, Cocoons, and Caterpillars

I spent the time while the kids and hubby were in Idaho doing a lot of harvesting and canning.  I planned a bit better than last year and most everything I needed was available from the garden at the right time or I had set aside so that it would be ready (like onions). Here are this year's tallies so far: 

1. Spaghetti Sauce- 57 quarts (5 lbs tomatoes/quart; that means I harvested about 300 lbs of tomatoes just for this!)
2. Salsa (Zesty, Fiesta, and Spicy Tomato from Ball canning book) - 28 quarts; I made so much tomatillo salsa last year that I still have about 30 quarts of salsas left and I think these 28 will be enough for this year. 
3. Soups (French onion, loaded potato, minestrone, lentil soup, navy bean with ham) - 37 quarts; I plan to do another 20 + jars of soup. It is so nice to have meals ready to serve.  We have been eating the last of various batches for dinner and the loaded potato and minestrone are reigning favorites. 
4. Odds and ends - baked beans, sweet pickle spears, jams - 34 quarts

Minestrone is such a beautiful blend of veggies. I planted Top Crop green beans late in the season and they have been stellar producers... minus the mexican bean beetles that I keep picking off.

 My few last minute cantaloupe plantings are yielding lovely fruits -- 5 so far and more on the way.

We are also harvesting elder berries by the gallon -- 5 gallons in the freezer so far.  I will make jam and syrup when I have a lull in the tomatoes and beans.  And also I froze a couple batches of basil pesto and a batch of papalo pesto.  I am going to try making some stewed tomatoes with basil and a batch with papalo as well.
I am starting to get the hang of drying herbs. It is too humid here to hang dry in bunches (they mold). And most herbalists discourage the use of dehydrators as too hot.   My screens in the attic are working pretty well. It just takes awhile, about a week per batch. This batch of tulsi (holy basil) is done and ready for storage.

 I dried my feverfew and then tinctured it -- supposed to make a stronger batch. I harvested my small crop of echinacea and some horehound, and infused them in honey for adding to teas.  It is pretty bitter, probably should not have made it so concentrated.

  I am harvesting cayenne and drying it for medicinal use as well. The dehydrator works great for peppers. 
While I was harvesting elder berries I found a cecropia caterpillar.  They look so colorful -- like a circus clown.   We put it in a terrarium with a bunch of elder branches.  He grew to be as large as my thumb and after a couple weeks he has finally made his cocoon.

His cocoon is the hairy golden mass hidden among the leaves in the center. 

While I was harvesting papalo yesterday I found another little cocoon attached to one of the stalks.

It hatched in the night!  The kids were thrilled.

Aladdin on Ice

This weekend the kids showed off their dramatic and ice skating talents in a performance of Aladdin on ice. 

Prepping for the show. 

 Warm sweaters and blankets for watching from the COLD bleachers.

  Big Sister A was one of the guards.

 

Brother M was a townsperson. Neither was able to have main parts because we told them that we would not be participating in the Sunday performance.

 

 When Jasmine took off her cloak and said, "Release him! By order of the Princess" -- her wig came off with the cloak!  It was so funny.