Holland's Dairy

The boys' class went on a field trip in May to a local dairy.  Avery and I met them there and I was so surprised that this small dairy near our house supplies milk to Horizon Organics!  They have about 700 cows and the farm was super clean.

 We had three first grade classes on the trip and the kids had three stations to move through before the entire group toured together.  We started at the snack station.  The dairy handed out organic milk boxes and cookies.

The next station explained how the milk gets from the cows to the grocery store...and then the kids tried "milking" a cow.

Next we got to go into the actual "milking" room which was crazy.  Avery was getting a bit scared because the cow's rear end was not too far away so we didn't actually move into the room (it was at your own risk)...so I couldn't really get a good picture.

 We then joined the other two classes and got a tour of the barn, the cow hospital, and the "commodities" section.

The barn was really nice.

They feed their cows flax seed (on the left), hominy (on the right), alfalfa (I didn't take a pic but it was on the opposite side of this food) and some molasses!

 I have to say, after seeing their property and hearing how much water (50 gallons per cow per day!) and food (100 lbs per day!), and how much work is involved made me appreciate the cost of organic milk.  We got to see the calves before we left...so cute!!

 

Airplane

Last month Jack decided he was making a paper airplane.  He made a large airplane, a small one, and a hangar.  Just with paper and a lot of tape.  Awesome job Jack G!

Live, Joy, Dance

...continuing from our last post...as soon as Avery took her towel wrap off she literally shook her hair loose, danced, jumped, and showed how much energy and happiness she has.  Reader tip:  This post is best enjoyed with music.  Something like "I Lived" by OneRepublic.  :)

Towel Wraps and Pink Nails

Avery wanted her hair wrapped in a towel the way I put it on my hair up after I wash it.

 Then she danced a bit...

 ...and let me capture a few of her smiles...

 ...and giggles....

 ...and sassiness.

 The day prior we had painted her nails hot pink and she was quite excited about it.

Memorable Soccer Season

We had quite the first soccer season.  The boys weren't on their school team but a team with a mix of schools.  Their first coach was "removed" in the third week...the replacement coach quit after a few days (due to having drama with the previous coach whose son was still on the team) and finally Geoff and another dad took over as co-coaches for the last two weeks.  We ended up with only seven kids on the team.  Our last game was today and it was against our school's team.  So it was kind of fun for the boys since they knew lots of the kids.  I think it made them play harder.  They were running.... 

 Their game was at 8 a.m. and it was really bright when I was taking these pictures.  I didn't really look at them until we got home.  And this one made me stop and stare.  I know they are identical twins but this is exteme!

 Very proud of these guys for sticking out the season!

I think Avery is ready for soccer now too!

Snuggle Time all Around

Chasing Allergies and Chicks!

Avery had another allergy test a couple of weeks ago.  She was so excited to go and have an appt for her, versus tagging along for activities and appts for the boys; but then she was tricked into those back pricks and I felt so awful.  Even worse, I couldn't wrap my arms around her and hug her because it would mess up the test results!  I swear she was more upset over being tricked then the actual pokes themselves.  Poor baby. 

I thought her back looked pretty good...especially in comparison to how the boys' backs would almost fully swell up.  Her allergies this time:  milk and EGGS!  But...no NUTS or peanuts!  We aren't too excited about anything though because our doc said we are "chasing allergies" at this age.  That she is the perfect age to move in and out of allergies.  Kind of like how the boys tested positive for a milk allergy for that one year and got out of it.  She wasn't allergic to eggs before.  I think the doctor said she might be part of the 11% of kids to move out of a peanut or nut allergy.  That would be great.

The closer her allergies are to Jack and Wyatt's makes baking easier.  She hadn't eaten many eggs anyway bc of their allergy.  Speaking of baking, Jack found our cookie jar and put this post-it on it:

(these are mine.  and they are yummy)

 Eggs=chicks!  The baby chicks are here!

And excuse the mess in my car (this is actually a good day mess) I love how Avery is pointing her toe..totally random but I just love it.  Please indulge me.  :)