Then he chose one for his breakfast and removed the shell.
Today we drove 45 min. away to a conservation area that has a Maple Sugar Festival. We hiked through the woods where we found tapped trees. It did freeze overnight, but it was in the high 40s by noon, so the sap was not running.
UNTIL.... we came to this tree!!! I caught his surprise at finding the sap running!
They demonstrated to him how the pioneers used to transport the sap in the olden days. He was surprised how heavy it was even with no sap!
The lady had 3 pots boiling. The first was fresh sap; the second had been cooking 8 hours; and the third had been cooking another 8 hours and was just about syrup.
Then the taste test! First raw sap; then syrup. Kevin thought it was really good!
The modern day sugar shack below had a working modern day boiler for sap with the sap being piped into it from tubes connected to the trees.
The sugar shack had a display of tree bark -- showing how maple bark is different from other trees such as ash and beech. As we walked through the trees, we found ash and beech trees among all the maples.
All of the park assistants were extremely friendly to us and commented on how lucky we were to have timed our visit perfectly to fall between the continual onslaught of school tours. The lady in the visitors' center told us to return for a coloring book, plus she set us up to see a video privately! Kevin bought a bag of rocks and a maple sugar lollipop in the gift store.
Our pancake lunch was DE-LI-cious, as Kevin emphasized it.
After lunch, we retrieved Guinness from the car and took him for a walk in another part of the park.
Grandma needed a little nap after returning home, but not Kevin! He got busy on extending his banners in the hallway! Karin would be so amazed and proud of him!!! She was an inveterate crafter/artist. She was always making things out of paper and drawing. Before she left us, Kevin had not caught on to crafts other than stickers. He did not draw well or like drawing. That has changed! He is quite creative with paper now!
We bought some pansies yesterday and he was eager for us to plant them, so plant them we did -- 2 pots for the front and 4 for the patio, and we still had more leftover! He was a great help!
We took Guinny for a short walk across the street near a river where we saw two swans beginning to establish a nest next to the river!
This evening, I showed him how to trace his hand and make a lily out of it. I would have left it without leaves, but he cut a small piece of pipecleaner to create leaves on the stem.
What an experience! I wish I could have gone! : ) There's something you can't do in the South! ; ) LOVE the Lily idea! We're going to have to try that!
ReplyDelete