Wonderful Fall Day

Saturday was the day for our repeat visit to Homestead Farms in Maryland. When we went last year to pick apples, we loved the place for both the charm of the small farm and for the delicious apples that we brought home.



Because brunch was in his job description, Orlando was not in the original plans for the trip to the farm, but an impending job change meant that he was able to come, too. The farm is about an hour away, and we piled into the car early in the morning, hoping to avoid the crowds that we were sure would come by the early afternoon.

When we got there, we were reassured that there were still some apples on the trees. Our first stop, though, was to the goats, pigs and sheep in the pens near the house. We'd brought a bag of oats for the animals, and Anastasia was very excited to pet the little goats and we all smiled at the little piglets.



Then it was time to hit the trees. Our favorite apples from last year, the Cameo, were the still on the trees, though we had to walk a good way down the aisle to find the trees that were still full. The farm's new puppy, Logan, joined us for a good deal of our walk. He likes sticks just as much as Murphy does.



When we hit the apple trees, our buckets and our bellies got filled pretty quickly. Anastasia especially loved the apples, helping herself to at least 5 during the day.



With two bushels of apples, we headed back up to the market to pick out a pumpkin or two before heading back home to make a pie for dessert.

Road Warrior

The other night, Anastasia was playing in the back yard by herself while we fixed dinner. When she'd been outside for a few minutes, we went out to investigate. This is what we found:



Orlando decided he should go down and give her a little lesson.



When he turned it on, she got pretty scared, so she won't be taking to the roads anytime soon. Still, her love of Daddy's hobby is pretty strong.

Tiny Dancer

Anastasia has always been a musical kid. She loves to play the piano, tinkling the ivories practically every time she passes. Her recorder is a favorite toy, though she hasn't really learned how to use it and it's not the prettiest music to my ears.

Yesterday, Orlando caught a glimpse of Anastasia's latest musical expression. Not playing the music, but moving to it.



Not sure where she learned the moves. I'm wondering if I need to seek out a dance class for her to get her groove on.

Food for Thought

I don't remember the "healthfulness" of school lunches ever being an issue when I was a kid. I remember that breakfast cost a quarter, and lunch was 75 cents. We had hamburgers with tater tots on Thursday, spaghetti on Tuesdays, and pancakes for breakfast with your choice of maple, blueberry or strawberry flavored syrup at least once a week. Your beverage choices were plain or chocolate milk. Last year, Anastasia's school cafeteria was basically the same. Lots of processed foods, overcooked canned veggies, and sugary cereals were offered, with strawberry or chocolate milk. Here's a picture courtesy of the Better D.C. School Food blog:



Though Orlando is a chef, and food is important to us, we don't harp on healthy eating with Anastasia (or ourselves for that matter). We do limit her choices, and obviously, the kid doesn't eat ice cream 3 meals a day, but you will find more than just organic fruit and veg in our kitchen.

And, our little girl loves food. She's never met a protein she didn't like (including, we learned this week, chicken gizzards). Ditto fruit. With vegetables, she's a bit more finicky, but I can't really call her picky, since she loves broccoli, peas, carrots, asparagus and any salad.



As much as she loves food that's good for her, like her parents, she also loves junk food. She'll happily help mommy and daddy dig into a bag of potato chips, and it's guaranteed that every night she'll ask for a treat after dinner. Only recently did she start liking french fries, but now that she does, it's even odds whether she'll choose fries or apples at McDonalds.

Because we're not the type of parents to worry too much over it, and because breakfast and lunch (and 2 or 3 snacks) are free to every student in her school, last year, she ate cafeteria meals, rather than a sandwich packed by me. I'll confess, though, I wouldn't have eaten most of what they served.

This year, in response to new legislation made possible by parents who care a lot about this subject, the DC Public Schools school lunch catering company is offering a much more healthful menu. Every meal now includes locally grown fresh fruit or vegetables, and whole grains. The processed sugars are largely removed, with cereals now tending more toward Kashi and Shredded Wheat than Fruit Loops and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. And, there's no more chocolate or strawberry milk on offer. A more recent pic of a chicken lunch from Better D.C. School Food:



I didn't think this would be a big deal to me. I'm surprised by the level of happiness that I feel knowing that she's being presented with choices that are both better for her, and more appetizing. But I am pleased, and it's one of several examples of the changes that are being made in DC Public Schools in the last couple years.

Football Kickoff

It's officially fall, and that means football season. Anastasia loves going to Maryland football games, and she was very excited that the day after her birthday party was the first football game of the season. Unfortunately Orlando could not join us, but we scheduled to meet our tailgating friends in advance of the game. It was a long drive to Baltimore, followed by a long walk to the right spot. Once there, Anastasia was very excited. The Martin girls set her up with face paint.



Our first game of the year was against Navy. At every game, the midshipmen march into the stadium and salute the visiting team. Then, they turn to their own team and cheer before marching into the stands to watch the game. It was great fun to watch.



When we got to our seats, we found a special sign (which thankfully doubled as a fan) waiting for us. Though the temperature that day reached only in the mid 80's in the sun, it was quite hot.



We had great seats, and the action of the game was consistently at our end. Still, we frequently had to retreat into the corridors to cool down.



With the noise in the stadium, and the heat, Anastasia wasn't really able to last longer than half of the game. That worked out well for us, we got ourselves home in time to watch the Terps win on TV with Orlando. And, Anastasia got an excellent nap on the ride home.

Her Yellow Phase

When we asked her what kind of party she wanted this year, Anastasia replied "a yellow one." So, Yellow was the official theme. Myney and I spent a good deal of looking for an appropriate yellow dress for her to wear, I finally found one on eBay, yellow gingham with pink butterflies.



Two days before the party, Orlando and I started to feel under the weather, and there were moments when I feared that the party wouldn't happen. But by Saturday evening, I was feeling better, and we were back on track. Decorations were classic balloons and streamers with pretty paper lanterns for the front porch.



I worked at incorporating the yellow theme into the food, though I'll admit not too hard, since the idea of an entirely yellow buffet wasn't super appealing to me. We had cheese puffs, and veggies with a couple different dips, including curry, chicken satay with peanut sauce and shrimp with traditional cocktail sauce. I also made a yellow fruit salad (pineapple, mango, apple, and mandarin oranges). Myney contributed the most amazing hand painted yellow butterfly cake. Somehow, the camera didn't get pulled out until all the real food was done and the cake was on the table.



The kids were very eager to have a taste of the cake.



Murphy's not real good with visitors yet, so we kept the big dogs in the back yard for the duration of the party, so there could be free access to the front yard during the day. The weather was beautiful, so there was fun with her new soccer ball on the front porch, the grown ups enjoyed the patio with a glass of wine and Anastasia stole a hug with Nate Curtis, though he was a less than willing participant.



As we've done in the past, we waited until most of the guests had said goodbye before starting to open presents. When we did open presents, Anastasia was eager to dive right into one of her new books.

Getting Fit

With 3 months left until our Carribbean vacation, Orlando and I are starting to get excited. We're both a bit... let's call it heftier than we would like to be, so we're taking decisive action. On Monday, we started an intensive 3 month training regimen coupled with a plan to change eating habits.

The Exercise Program: P90X - 90 days and it's intense. It's made up of 12 dvds, each with a single workout on it. It comes with a detailed schedule of which disk should be used on each day. Orlando is doing the standard version, I'm doing the lean version, so we're each doing a different workout every day.

Monday, Orlando and I each made it through about 1/2 of our one hour session. On day 2, we were both able to reach the end, though I'll confess, it was not easy, and I couldn't keep up. The program offers a lot of variety in the daily workouts. One day may be arms and shoulders, the next yoga followed by a workout of abs and core. I'm quickly getting the sense that sore muscles are going to be standard for both of us for the next couple months.

We'll each be tracking progress throughout the 90 days, and we've each set a personal goal for what we'd like to accomplish.

The program includes a diet program that is a little complicated but basically seems a lot like the South Beach Diet, which we both know pretty well. So we've opted to use that system instead.

The Diet: South Beach Diet - Myney and I have both done South Beach before with some success. It does require that you not eat any carbs for the first two weeks, then introducing only whole grains (so no potatoes or white bread) in moderation. The first two days have been pretty easy, salads on day 1, pork and rattatouille for dinner last night. We've got a fridge full of meat and cheese and vegetables.

The other big change for us is in what we drink. No more juice, no more sugary sodas, and alcohol is going to be limited to a few specific cheat days. With the demands of the exercise program, water really is the evening beverage of choice so far.

We've agreed that we'll be cheating on the diet a bit over the next three months but we're going to do our best to keep each other honest. Our first cheats will happen this weekend with Annie's birthday party and our first football game.

I'll make periodic progress reports as we inch toward the day we'll head to the beaches of the Carribbean. Now, I've got to get to my arms and shoulders workout.