Thanks (giving)

eleanor reads

just within the past few days, eleanor has been very into reading books aloud by herself for more extended periods of time. her favorites are more or less memorized, but we haven't read this raggedy ann book (which was mine when i was a little girl) very much since the stories are fairly long. she's not familiar with the actual plot lines, but in my opinion, her version is better.

for henry

at the beginning of the summer, henry brought us two small cosmos plants from his day camp at the chicago botanical gardens. we planted them together in the flower bed on the side of the garage and they have thrived.

henry, look at how big they are! they are even much taller than eleanor! did you plant any cosmos in your yard? if so, do they have any flowers right now? are they the same color as ours? we are enjoying the pretty pink flowers and there are still more buds that haven't bloomed yet, so we will have lovely flowers to look at for at least a few more weeks. thank you for sharing these beautiful plants with us! XO

apple pickin'

this morning we went out to wilson's orchard. despite strong summer sun and temperatures in the 80s, apple picking always makes me feel like fall is here.
my mom came with us and generously shared her delicious apple turnover ("what a hostess pie would taste like if it was good," as rob said) with eleanor. if you live in/around IC, it's worth the trip out there just for a turnover. the crust is so flaky, there must be lard involved, and the filling is sweet and a little cinnamon-y and has just the right amount of gooeyness.
honeycrisps are in season right now and we found lots of trees that were heavy with perfect apples. easy pickings.
E dug right in. we took home a big basketful. let the perfect apple recipe(s) hunt begin!