Hi everyone! Grandma got in the mood to make another AWACS cheesecake, so I helped by marbling the batter. After it baked and cooled, I covered up my pretty marbling design with chocolate ganache.Grandma didn’t have any occasion in mind for serving the cheesecake, so we put it right in the freezer.
The last Sunday in September, we had a busy day! After church, Uncle Steven’s family joined Grandma and Grandpa and me for a trip to the bay! The first adventure we had was picking apples at Burnap’s Farm Market. When we got there, James and Thomas and I wanted to check out the pumpkin patch and the playground right away! Then we walked around to the two rows of “you pick” apple trees. Thomas got to pick some of his favorite purplish apples. We picked a lot of different apple varieties and ended up with a very full bag!
After we got back with the apples, Uncle Steven wanted to put the jet skis on the trailer for winter storage. While he rode the Waveblaster to the marina with a launch ramp, the rest of us followed in the powerboat. Then Grandma and I stayed with the Waveblaster at the marina while Uncle Steven caught a ride back in the power boat. While Uncle Steven rode the second jet ski to the marina, Grandpa drove the car with the trailer to the launch ramp. That was a lot of back and forth, but it all worked!
After the jet skis were on the trailer and tied down, Grandma and Uncle Steven and I all got a ride back to our place with Grandpa! Uncle Steven made sure the jet skis were ready for winter before he covered them up. We still had time for electronics before dinner!
The last Tuesday in September was another good day for hiking! Grandma and I went to the next trail in our passport, Indian Hill Recreational Area. I really liked this hike! The yellow-blazed trail winds up through woods to an open meadow. It was really easy to follow the trail! Grandma warned me to be careful around the trail marker, because the leaves around it looked like poison ivy! We took the steeper blue trail back down.
Grandma and I enjoyed the Indian Hill trail so much that we decided to go right on to another trail in our passport! Mason Valley is a trail through a residential neighborhood. There were no hills to climb, but the trail circled a large pond with an island in it! I made some plant friends along the way!
I particularly liked having the trail marker on a footbridge, where I could reach it! There were lots of nuts in their husks along the trail. Some of them ended up in this gnarled old tree! On the east side of the big pond, the trail runs on a berm between that pond and another smaller one. That was a very pretty place!
Grandma said we had time to do one more hike, so we went to Center Park. The trail there starts just behind the town offices and has two parts – a path winding through pine woods and a longer path through open fields. We were surprised to find a trail marker that wasn’t on our passport map between the two parts of the trail! The high school cross country running team uses the open parts of the trail for their races. I saw markings to help the runners on that part of the trail!
There’s a trail diagonally across our town on the bed of an abandoned regional trolley line. When we crossed it on our Egypt – Lollypop Farm hike, Grandma told me that she used to take my uncles bike riding on that path when they were boys. Part of the Center Park trail follows that path. Grandma thinks that part of the trolley trail has been improved since her bike riding days on it! We saw some fall color in the leaves there before we reached the pine woods path. I liked the pine smell in the woods! We found a fairy house! After three hikes in a row, I needed a rest!
On our way home, we had one more adventure! We stopped at Powers Farm Market to see their pumpkin patch! When we got there, delivery crews were setting up the patches. One crew member on the trailer would toss pumpkins to the crew members standing on the ground. That crew member would set each pumpkin in place. Nobody dropped any pumpkins! I was glad I got to see the crews working! Grandma took me for my annual trip inside the corn stalk tepees to see the spooky decorations!
The next day was cloudy in the morning, but it cleared up to nice hiking weather in the afternoon. The next trail in our passport was at Garnsey Road Arboretum. This trail had two parts, too! The first part was a mowed lawn with different kinds of trees — sort of a tree gallery. Then, north beyond the lawn, there was a path through hilly woodland beside a valley stream. We met some deer who seemed interested, but not scared, to see anybody walking in their woods!
We had time for one more hike before dinner, so we went to Powder Mills Park. The trail there starts at the fish hatchery and follows paths that are used for cross country skiing in the winter. I think you would have to be a good skier to follow the ups and downs on this hillside trail! One of the ski trail markers was on a tree that had fallen down! The trail marker is on a stone chimney in the woods. Whatever building it was attached to is completely gone! Part of the path back was level and wide, but then it turned into switchbacks to get back down the hillside to the road.
I was sad to see a ruined fairy house and then some litter on the trail! Of course, I made sure to pick up the dropped can and recycle it! After our hike, we stopped to see the fish in ponds at the fish hatchery. The sky was reflecting off the water, but I could see the colored sides on the rainbow trout!
Grandma had plans for last weekend, so we went out to the bay for a work day on Thursday night. On Friday, I helped Grandpa cut trim strips for the front wall of the boathouse. Grandma and I helped him attach them, then he caulked the gap between the strip and the siding above it. I remember Uncle Steven doing the same kind of work on the tree house last spring!
Grandma’s Saturday plan was to take Uncle Steven and James and Thomas and me to the Rochester Museum and Science Center for World Architecture Day. Whenever we go to the museum, James and Thomas want to go to the Adventure Zone first. They like climbing the enclosed catwalk to the second floor! This time, they also tried the climbing wall. Thomas figured out how to operate the model boat locks.
The main attraction of Architecture Day was the Lego display in the Riedman Gallery. The local Lego builders group showed off their models. I especially liked seeing the Seattle Space Needle model! The builders made a ball machine that stretched across the entire end of the gallery! It was fun to watch all the ways Legos could transport marble-sized balls from one place to another!
Uncle Steven demonstrated how much cranking energy it took to keep all the circuits powered in one display. Thomas figured out how to make paths of gears work together. James built a fort of foam blocks and Thomas figured out a way into it! Then everybody settled down to build with Keva planks. James made a tall tower, and so did Grandma and I!
Today is rainy, but the weatherman predicts that we will have nice weather next week. Grandma and I have one more trail to hike to finish our trails passport. By next week, we should have fall colors to see on that walk!
Love,
Lion-san