Storm loves fresh fruits and vegetables, so we made turkey platters to snack on while Thanksgiving dinner was being made. We also made a meat, cheese, and cracker platter as well.
Fruit Platter
We placed half of a pear on the bottom of the platter for the turkey body, with sliced olive eyes and cut carrot feet and beak. Then we placed strawberries, orange slices, and grapes around the platter for the turkey feathers.
We also used waffle cones for the kids to make their own cornucopia’s with their fruit.
Vegetable Platter
I cut the top off of a red pepper and cleaned our the insides to make a bowl for the turkey body. We placed it near the bottom of the platter. I used the end that I cut off for the turkey’s head, with sliced olive eyes and cut pepper feet and beak. I also cut yellow peppers into strips coming out the of top of the turkeys head like feathers. Then we placed cucumber slices, baby carrots, celery sticks, and more pepper strips around the platter for the turkey feathers.
To make the ranch, I used 16 ounces of sour cream and a ranch dry mix packet.
Meat & Cheese Platter
We placed a cheese ball on the bottom of the platter for the turkey body, with sliced olive eyes and cut carrot feet and beak. Then we placed cheeses, crackers, meat slices, and honey candied almonds around the platter for the turkey feathers.
We used the icing that came with the kit as the glue for the cookie pieces, but I made my buttercream icing for the decorations on the bottom. Then she used my piping bags to put icing wherever she wanted it.
Buttercream Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup Crisco
4 cups powdered sugar (2 lbs)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon milk (if thick)
Buttercream Directions:
Cream together the butter and Crisco with a mixer.
Slowly add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time.
Add the vanilla, if it seems too thick you can add a bit of milk.
The kids wanted to help with the carving, so I found some kid safe scooping tools for them to use. I always use a drywall saw to carve my pumpkins, it makes it so much easier. After we carved a face and counted the seeds, we fed the insides to the pumpkins. Then Storm put our tiny white pumpkins inside the mouth of the jack-o-lantern and put our small flat pumpkin for the hat.
Then she wanted to weigh the pumpkin again to see if it was less now that we took out the insides. It was 2 pounds less!
We visited our first national park this weekend. We camped at Indiana Dunes National Park on the southern part of Lake Michigan. The younger girls got a Junior Ranger National Park Passport Book to put their stamps in. They also completed the Indiana Dunes Junior Ranger program and received their Junior Ranger Badges. The older boys enjoyed cooking over a campfire and hiking up the dunes.
We planed our visit to see all of the things that interested us and also the locations that were mentioned in the Indiana Dunes Junior Ranger activity guide. We read and filled out page 3 at home, we found the mission of the National Park Service online. We used this Great Lakes Map to fill out page 4 of the activity guide. On page 6, we looked up some of the Indiana Dunes Animals to figure out what the Potawatomi would have hunted. We had a little trouble on page 10 identifying the animals with their prints, so we got a little help from the big brothers! We talked about page 15 and answered the questions, then we filled out the last page as well, so we wouldn’t have so much to do at the campsite.
We arrived Saturday afternoon and stopped at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center to pay the $25 for our stay (this pass is good for a week). You can also pick up your Junior Ranger activity guide there if you didn’t print it out ahead of time. After this we went to visit Bailly Homestead and Chellberg Farm near the Visitor Center. Bailly Homestead was under construction when we visited, but we could see the house a bit from the road. You can hike a quarter of a mile between the 2 places as well. After we visited here, we filled out the bottom of page 6 in Junior Ranger activity guide. Next we went to Dunewood Campground to set up our campsite for the weekend (read more about this below).
On Sunday morning we went hiking while it was still cooler out. We decided to hike the 3 Dune Challenge in the State Park at the Nature Center (we learned that we had to pay an additional park fee to enter though). You can read more about our 3 Dune Challenge experience below. As we hiked we tried to use all of our senses, then we filled out the bottom of page 12 in Junior Ranger activity guide. A short distance from the Nature Center we followed the Great Marsh Trail where we saw Bull Frogs and a Great Blue Heron. We were able to complete page 10 in Junior Ranger activity guide after this trail.
Sunday afternoon we wanted to go to the beach for the warmer weather. We tried to visit Dunbar Beach or Lake View Beach because it was closer to the Lake View Pavilion that we needed to visit for page 4 of our Junior Ranger activity guide. Unfortunately, there was no parking anywhere along the beach here, so we had to travel farther to West Beach and try to visit the Lake View Pavilion in the morning. At West Beach we didn’t see everything on page 8 in the Junior Ranger activity guide, but we saw a couple of them. We saw the toad, marsh grass, and Herring Gull; we also saw a tiny dead fish that had washed up on the beach (the girls had fun observing it).
Monday morning we stopped by Lake View Pavilion before heading back to the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center to fill out the last pages (page 10 and 12) of our Junior Ranger activity guide. After the guide was completed, the Park Ranger helped the girls say the Junior Ranger Oath, and then she gave them each a badge. Then they got to stamp their Junior Ranger National Park Passport Books. We also bought a couple of the 3 Dunes Challenge t-shirts in the gift shop.
Dunewood Campground
The only campsite in Indiana Dunes National Park is Dunewood Campground. The girls brought play kitchen toys to use in the sand, and the had a blast getting filthy! The boys brought their cast iron camp skillet to make pancakes for breakfast and quesadillas for dinner (be sure to bring your own firewood). We also had the traditional hotdogs and s’mores! We set up our CAMPROS tent and Kijaro Camping Chairs. The girls liked using our LED lanterns once it got dark.
3 Dunes Challenge
The boys favorite part of the trip with the dune hiking; my 15 year old said that he would like to do it again some time. We wanted to climb The 3 Dune Challenge in the morning while it was still cooler out. The girls enjoyed this too, and discovered that climbing up the sand dunes was easier for them without their shoes on. The rest of us had piles of sand in our tennis shoes by the top of the first dune, except for one of my sons who wore his hiking boots… no sand in those!
The 3 Dune Challenge is a loop if you start at the Nature Center. We just followed Trail 8 until the top of the last dune, then we switched to trail 4. The first dune is Mt. Jackson, 176 feet with a 31 degree slope angle. I really felt it in my calf muscles but it helped to stop about three fourths of the way up for a rest. The next dune was Mt. Holden, 184 feet high with 34 degree slope angle. This one made my hamstrings burn, but again I took a short rest about three fourths up that really helped me. (I saw several families with small children and fantastical mommies with babies riding on their bellies during this hike!) My teenage boys and small girls just went right on up without stopping for rests. The last dune was Mt. Tom. This one had soooooo many stairs! And again, I stopped to rest halfway up. Mt. Tom is 192 feet with a 43 degree slope.
Great Marsh Trail
A short distance from the Nature Center we followed the Great Marsh Trail, which is just about a half hour walk. You can see herons and cranes sometimes, we ended up spotting Bull Frogs and a Great Blue Heron which was amazing.
West Beach on Lake Michigan
The beach was the girls favorite part of the trip, they would have stayed there all day but the boys are usually done with the beach after about an hour. One of the boys didn’t even wear shorts to the beach, so he sat on the towel and dug the deepest hole every… to his elbow! The little girls brought their toy kitchen dishes to the beach and kept collecting little white feathers. They also found and tiny dead fish that wash ashore that they observed until I had the boys throw it back.
Slowly add the frozen butter through the shredder as the food processor is pulsing.
Add the cold water and pulse until a ball of dough forms.
Place dough on a clean and floured surface. Roll out dough until it is about 12×18 inches.
Add more flour to the dough and fold it into thirds. Add more flour and fold that in half. Place in a zip lock bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Cream Puff Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line to baking sheets with wax paper. Spray lightly with baking spray.
Wrap forks with aluminum foil to resemble a cone and spray them too.
Unfold the puff pastry and cut it with a pizza cutter into long 1 inch strips.
Start at the small end of the fork mold and wrap the strip of puff pastry around it overlapping each layer by 1/4 inch. Place on the baking sheet.
Prepare an egg wash with egg and water. Brush each horn with the egg wash.
Bake for 15-17 minutes turning half way though.
Allow them to cool for a few minutes and then remove the aluminum foil fork to finish cooling.
Fill with the following Whipped Cream Recipe and dust with powered sugar.
Whipped Cream Ingredients:
2 cups heavy whipping cream chilled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
Whipped Cream Instructions:
Add the heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
With the mixer on medium speed, whip the cream until it begins to thicken.
Continue whipping for several minutes until the cream is fluffy (medium peaks) but not too firm.
Use immediately or cover tightly and chill for up to 36 hours.
Heart Pizzas
Ingredients:
2 teas sugar
1 teas dry active yeast
2/3 cup warm water (105 degrees)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teas salt
2 TBS olive oil
Pizza Sauce
Pepperoni
Mozzarella Cheese
Directions:
Mix sugar and warm water. Then sprinkle with yeast and let sit for 5 minutes.
Add in the flour, salt, and olive oil and mix with dough hook in electric mixer.
Once it is well mixed knead for 5 minutes.
Divide dough into 2 pieces and place into an oiled pan. Cover and let it rise for and hour.
Preheat oven to 475 degrees and roll out dough. I cut mine into heart shapes.
Spread the pizza sauce and cheese then bake for 12-15 minutes.
Start by preparing the strawberries. Add sliced strawberries to a bowl and sprinkle them with sugar. Stir to combine. Let them hang out on your counter for about 2 hours and they will create a delicious juice. I recommend stirring them every half hour or so.
Next, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray the heart shaped cupcake mold generously with baking spray. Then, add some all-purpose flour to the molds, shake it around, and discard the excess.
The next step is to whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Then add the vanilla, softened butter, milk, and egg. With an electric mixer, beat on medium speed for about two minutes.
Divide the batter evenly among the prepared heart shaped cupcake mold . Each mold should be about three-quarters full. In case there are any drips, set the pan on a baking sheet while spooning the batter into the molds. Then place the shortcake pan in the preheated oven.
Bake the little cakes for 18-20 minutes. Allow the cakes to cool completely in the pan before attempting to remove them. Gently loosen each cake with your fingers: then invert the pan to release the cakes.
While the shortcakes cool, prepare the whipped cream (I used the left over whipped cream from the cream puffs).
Spoon a generous amount of the strawberries and juice on each shortcake. Top with a dollop of Homemade Whipped Cream. Garnish with a sliced strawberry and sprig of fresh mint, if desired.
We had a fun ocean themed lunch at school for our “Anchored” week at school. Each day we found creative ways to incorporate all of the food groups. We also had to keep the calories and sodium counts down to meet the state requirements for serving food to the school children.
We used clear plastic cups for the pudding, jello, and the banana cup. We also offered milk everyday even though it is not pictured.
Monday
Ham & Cheese Sea Monster Sandwich Goldfish Crackers Broccoli Ocean Sprouts Coral Reef Fruit Cocktail Shark Pudding (Gummy Sharks)
Tuesday
Fish Shape Nuggets Barnacle Baked Beans Sea Dragon Punch Blueberry Bubbles Teddy Graham Beach Jello (Umbrella Toothpick)
Wednesday
Peg Leg Chicken Sea Shell Pasta Salad Green Sea Beans Dolphin Banana in Grapes Mermaids Delight Ice Cream (Mermaid Sprinkles)
Thursday
Hot Dog Octopus on Seaweed Spaghetti Crab Leg Carrot Sticks Sea Cucumber Slices Green Sea Turtle Apple
(We added the hotdog bun to get enough whole grain. And we added a banana, because we had extras left from yesterday.)
Friday
Sand Dollar Pancakes Sea Foam Scrambled Eggs Treasure Tater Tots Poseidon’s Red Pepper Sticks Orange Boats
This year I really wanted to make a Teepee Tree for my girls to play in. The idea is that the kids can play inside of the Christmas tree for a month and then Santa puts the gifts inside of the Teepee on Christmas morning.
I really had no idea how to build it, and I couldn’t find any satisfactory directions. So I decided to go at it one step at a time (which took much longer than I wanted and was very much frustrating at times).
I started by purchasing a 5 foot Teepee. I put together the Teepee and saw that it was saggy since I wasn’t able to attach the corner stakes that go into the ground that hold it firm.
I decided to get some 1/2 inch PVC pipe to form the bottom boarder of the inside of the teepee. Since the teepee is 5ft x 5ft I made the PVC square, but the corner pieces that hold it together add about and inch on each side; so I had to cut an inch off of my 5 foot pieces.
Next I folded the flaps back, but I needed something sturdy to attach my garland to. So I got 2 six foot pieces of PCV pipe and a three foot piece to form a triangle door for my Teepee. I attached the six foot pieces to the three foot piece with 90 degree corner pieces. (The PVC pipe is much cheaper at Lowes or Home Depot.)
I used zip ties to attach the triangle PVC to my 5 foot square PCV. I also zip tied the top of my PVC triangle to the top of my teepee poles.
I used 250 feet of green Christmas garland for my teepee. I place the first row of my garland all the way around the teepee, securing it in the 4 corners with a safety pin where the tent stake goes through.
After the first wrap or two around the entire teepee, I needed to wrap the garland around the PVC triangle opening to my teepee every time I came around to the front to create the opening.
I noticed that the garland was sagging, so I used binder clips on the corner teepee poles to hold the garland tight.
I continued wrapping the garland back and forth around the teepee using the clips on the corners until I got to the top of where I wanted the door opening to be.
The PVC triangle doorway was showing quite a bit of white pipe through, so I wrapped some smaller pieces of garland around it to cover the pipes.
I then started wrapping the garland all the way around the teepee top to close up the top of the door.
I had extra garland and the top of my tree looked a little scrawny, so I used the rest of my garland and wrapped the top part of my tree t more times. Then I wrapped the top of the teepee poles with the last bit of garland.
For the lights, I just zig zagged them back and forth on the side of the tree that showed. I used the binder clips that were already on the tree to keep the lights in place. When the lights got to the top of the tree, then I could wrap the lights all the way around the tree.
We decorated the tree and put a tree skirt in the bottom of the tree.
The girls liked to take their stuffed animals into their Christmas tent.
Every year we make gingerbread houses on Thanksgiving. We made a Nativity scene with graham crackers and gum drop people. We used coconut for the hay and animal crackers with candy canes as well. We tried something new this year, using peanut butter instead of icing; but it wasn’t sturdy enough so the gumdrops kept falling over. Next time we will have to add some powdered sugar to the peanut butter to thicken it up.
In a small saucepan, mix together 1 cup of water, 1 TBSP vegetable oil and a few drops of red food coloring.
In another small bowl mix together 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup salt, 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar and 2 teaspoons Apple Pie Spice.
Turn the stove on medium heat and slowly mix your flour mixture into your water mixture.
Continuing mixing until the color is fully blended and the playdough begins to pull away from the saucepan. The batter will be lumpy but as you stir the playdough begins to form and sticks to itself.
Place the playdough on a piece of parchment paper and allow it to cool a bit.
Once it’s cool to the touch knead for a few minutes until soft.
Here are some of our other Thanksgiving Gingerbread posts:
Gingerbread House -23Thanksgiving Baking -20Kids Thanksgiving Treats -19
And here are some of our other Family Holidays:
Talk Like a Pirate DayEaster Minute-to-win-itChristmas Fireplace & Crafts
September 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. We made a fun pirate themed lunch for the kids at school. The lunch staff also wore pirate hats and we bought eye patches for the kids.
Sea Shaped Fish Nuggets
Our food supplier doesn’t have fish sticks, but they do have fish nuggets in the shape of sea creatures.
Treasure Map Cheese Sticks
We just used Sharpies to draw a red X on the cheese sticks with black dotted lines for the trail.
We placed blue Jello in the bottom of clear plastic cups and added an orange wedge on the top. Then we added a Pirate Flag to the orange wedge to look like a Pirate ship.
Carrot Stick Planks
We cup up carrot sticks and called them “Carrot Planks”.
Here is our toddler Christian Board Book Library. I usually put a small board book in the kids Easter baskets and I also get them a book each Christmas as well. I have included the books that we have with links to purchase them yourself if you wish.
We read books each night before bed. It is the best time for cuddles and kisses too!
I got to teach a “Music Maker Week” at our Summer Camp. I had about 10 kids Kindergarten-5th grade. Each day we did a Body Percussion song, STEM activity, and made an instrument. For younger kids we watched Little Einsteins.
Oobleck comes from the Dr. Seuss book called Batholomew and the Oobleck. It is a non-Newtonian liquid; which means that Oobleck has properties of both liquids and solids. You can look at the mixture sitting there as it appears like a liquid, you can even stick your fingers in it and it will feel like a liquid. You can also grab a handful of it and squeeze it into a ball, then it feels and looks like a solid until it relaxes again.
You need about 2 cups of Corn Starch to 1 cup of water, and then add food coloring for fun.
You can search for “subwoofer test MP3” and download different test tones and play to see what works best. Use 40 Hz, 50 Hz, and 63 Hz, and turn the volume way up.
Place a cookie sheet onto the speaker of a subwoofer, and pour in the Oobleck.
Before you play the MP3 you will need to place your fingers on the edge of the cookie sheet with gentle pressure to hold it flush against the sub.
Turn on the music and watch the Oobleck jump and dance.
You need about plastic tubs of different sizes (we mostly used large ice cream tubs), Just add water and then add food coloring for fun. Put in the freezer for a day or two.
Freeze water colored with food coloringin different-sized food containers and bowls.
When frozen, remove the ice shapes from their molds and place them in a tub (we used a plastic kiddy pool).
Add drumsticks and objects for beating the ice drums.
Day 4: Spin Drum
Homemade Instrument: Spin Drum
Cut the tube into 1 or 2 inch pieces (each child gets 1 pieces)
Take the tube and trace its circumference on the cardboard sheet twice, to make two circles.
Cut out the circles from the cardboard.
Use a sharp object to cut a slot on the side of the cardboard tube ring. The slot should be big enough to insert a straw through it.
Insert a straw through the slot of the tube section. Apply glue to the areas where the straw and the cardboard tube meet to attach them firmly.
Take a long piece of yarn and attach a jingle bell to one end of the strand. Tie a knot to secure the bell.
Use something sharp to poke a hole on each side of the tube. The holes should be on either side of the straw.
Place some tape around the end of the yarn to poke it threw the hole, twist around the straw and poke it though the hole on the opposite side. (the bell should be just long enough to wrap around the drum and hit the drum in the middle)
Pull the yarn through the other side of the roll. Add a jingle bell to this second side. Make a knot to secure the bell and cut off any extra yarn. Try to keep a roughly equal amount of yarn on this side as you have on the other side of the roll.
Glue your cardboard circles to both sides of the ring to close it
Use colored craft papers or paint to decorate the plain cardboard parts of the spin drum. Embellish as you’d like.
You can use the water xylophone to teach kids about pitch.
Fill 6 mason jars or glasses with different levels of water. Each should have slightly more water than the previous one. We added food coloring for fun.
Have your children to use their drumsticks or a spoon to gently tap on the jar.
You should hear different pitch for each jar that is tapped.
This tap creates a vibration sound wave that travel through the water. The sound waves change with different amounts of water in the jar. Higher sounds have less water because the sound waves travel closer together. Lower sounds are in the jars with more water producing a lower sound.
