old people, new people

We went to the Cider Pressing Festival out at Philip Foster Farm in Eagle Creek this Saturday. They had pony rides, folks making butter, blacksmithing, wood carving, places for kids to try out hand clothes washing and log cabin building and, of course, apple trees and presses for making cider. We got the last apples from the trees and ended up with less than half a gallon of cider but it was delicious. Probably the best part of the day were the fiddlers playing on the stage. Naiya especially liked the young musicians. At one point there were some folks even dancing. I pointed to them from across the field through some trees we were sitting under at the time. “Naiya,” I said, “Can you see the old people dancing to the violin music?” She looked over for a bit and then turned to me and asked, “Are there any NEW people dancing?”

fruit loop

Naiya, Ryan and I recently took the Hood River Fruit Loop to partake in the annual Pear Celebration. The drive is through some incredibly beautiful countryside. Naiya said, "We're always going to so many farms... " Ah, the better to know our food and farmer friends my dear. We stopped into Rasmussen and walked the corn maze within which we performed a fun search for the ever elusive Waldo (of story book fame). Naiya wanted to do it twice and seemed to really enjoy the Where's Waldo concept. (So we got her her first Waldo book for her birthday :) We also picked apples at Kiyokawa and played in their very cool castle (built of old wooden fruit bins).

teaspoon

Naiya likes to help out in the kitchen and today we were baking bread. I have this odd set of measuring spoons that includes three spoons with the following labels: smidgeon, pinch and dash. These are, to me, a little ridiculous. I thought they’d make a great addition to Naiya’s play kitchen though. As we were getting our ingredients and whatnot together, I disconnected them from the ring to which they’re all connected and put them on a smaller ring for small people kitchen play.
I talk a lot as we go about our tasks and play throughout the day and proceeded to describe the steps of the recipe I was then following. “Add one teaspoon of baking soda...”
“Which one is the teaspoon?” Naiya asked me (referring to the small spoons I had given her).
I picked one out and told her it was the teaspoon.
“Can I have some tea in it?” she asked.

go sign

We were driving together and playing a kind of “I Spy” game. One of us just says, “I spy...a man in a blue shirt”, or “I spy...a red truck” or whatever. Then the other, when the object is found, exclaims, “I see it!”
We take turns going back and forth.
So I said, “I spy a stop sign.” And Naiya of course says, “I see it.”
Then comes the pause where she is supposed to chose the next object of the game and say, “I spy...”
Instead, though, she interrupts our play to ask me, “Mommy, where’s the Go Sign?”