Field Trip to Wholefoods Bakehouse

A fun field trip to ...

This is the facility where the breads for Whole Foods are made.  We started out in a small room for instructions before the tour.  Yes, everyone was required to wear a hairnet.

I wasn't sure if the gluten would be a problem for Eliana, so she and I stayed outside and waited for the others.  A sweet friend took pictures for me (thanks Jen!).  And the narrative below is courtesy of Joshua!

Our group was big enough to be split into 2 groups for the tour.  No age divisions this time, but rather by family.

The tour started with hearing about the various ingredients.

This is where all the flour is kept.

All the ingredients in large quantities.

This is the dough room.  The flour is brought down in a giant chute.

All the doughs are mixed in this room.

They kneaded and cut it in the next room.

There were large trash cans filled with doughs that were rising to get ready for baking.

Do you think everyone is getting hungry at this point?

This is the bread after it has been baked and still in the baking room.

This man is using a knife to slice the doughs.  Each type of bread had a different "slice".  He was very fast and impressed everyone with his skill and precision.

Yet another room where all the breads are cooling.  Look at the variety!

Sometimes even the experts have flops.  (Bet it still tastes good though!)

There was a room for desserts - sweet breads, cookies and more!

Making croissants.  A machine that flattened the dough.  Another cut it into triangles.  A conveyor belt brought these down where the workers rolled them up.

The tour lasted about 30 minutes and is an interesting look at bread making on a large scale.  The tour and process was very different from when we were here 6 years ago even.  There is also a separate facility where they make gluten free breads.  I'm hoping that maybe we can tour that one day as I would  love to see how they do this!

At the conclusion of the tour, they were so gracious to give us some breads to sample!  Everyone was excited to try the breads after seeing them being made!  

It was a gorgeous day so we found a nearby park to picnic and play.

Always a fun way to spend out days with friends!

So thankful for this sweet way of learning with my children.

Blessings
Leslie

Book Club - Secret Believers

We have just returned from a week at the beach.  I thought I might catch up on my blog while we were gone.  Nope.  I didn't have my computer and working on something smaller just wasn't appealing.  And truthfully, its kind of nice to be away from the pull of the electronics for a little bit.  :-)

This was our last book club meeting.  We read Secret Believers by Brother Andrew.  We had enjoyed one of his earlier books, God's Smuggler, and this was an excellent book as well.  Truly an excellent book.  So helpful in understanding the struggle of Muslims who believe in Christ.  I highly recommend it.  Its not an easy read in parts though, so I would recommend it for teens and up or preread to see if it works for your family.  I'm happy to answer questions you might have about the book.

I think the book was helpful in introducing more of the culture and beliefs of Muslims to each of us.  Reading about people who are living in Muslim countries and the weightiness of faith in their daily lives gave us all greater insight in understanding and hopefully will help in our interactions with Muslims.  

After our discussion, we had yummy foods from the Middle East.  The book does not clearly state which country the story takes place in.  The foods chosen are representative of various countries.

Again, I highly recommend this book.  I've been doing a lot more reading this year than I have in years past and am finding that I'm excited about all that I am learning.  It doesn't seem to have shortened the huge stack of books beside my bed however.  ;-)  I'm up to 13 or 14 books read thus far this year.  I'm excited about that and about the books to come on my list.

What about your?  Have you been doing much reading?  Any great books that you want to recommend?

Blessings
Leslie

Random happenings in April

The kids and I just returned from a quick and amazingly fun field trip to the Outer Banks!  I have hundreds of photos to go through, but am hoping to post and share them soon.  (602 photos)  Until then, I wanted to share a few more recent happenings at our house.

We love that Christopher is close enough to visit here - and us to go there - from time to time.  :D  One Saturday morning, we stopped by after a visit to the Farmer's Market (so close to campus).  Daniel went with me to the market and was happy to see his big brother!

We have been doing some work in the yard.  Everyone pitched in to help.  Love seeing Eliana with the little wheelbarrow.

It was a lot of work moving the mulch which we were sharing with a neighbor.

Many hands make light work though!

Everyone earned their treat of pizza for dinner that night.

Doesn't the front yard look nice?

Its been such a cool spring!  I'm not complaining at all though.  Its been nice for wearing sweaters and light jackets.

This sweet sweater was made by my mom for Eliana.  Isn't it pretty.

Daniel finished up his math book early this year!  As a reward, he will be going out to get ice cream!  Great work!

This is some of the origami creations that Daniel made while we were studying Japan and rowing the book Grandfather's Journey.  He had a great time making these!

Rebecca and her friend Hanna were finally able to take a Driver's Ed class.  It has been tricky to find a class that worked for our schedule, but they finished it this month.  They both did a great job.

That's it for April.  Now as we are into May, it is a full and busy month.  Travel, finishing up school, time with family, homeschool conference and more!  I'm looking forward to the fun, but also hoping to find time to rest and enjoy doing nothing too!

Hope your week is going well.

Blessings

Leslie

Fun Saturday

Last Saturday was such a fun day!  All of it.  Christopher and some friends arrived for lunch and then hung out with us for the rest of the day.  We all had a blast!  I love that he is close enough to come home and it is always a delight to have his friends come over too!

I was sporadic in taking pictures, but here are some of our day.  After having lunch, we headed outside.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day!  There had been a threat of rain, but it was beautiful!  Lots of fun playing games.  I love that my kids can just jump in the middle of things and that Christopher's friends are comfortable with that too.  

There was a lot of Kan Jam being played.  I think Rebecca (top right) and Kyle (bottom right) were the team champions.

 Everyone enjoys this game.  Even Eliana liked trying her hand at it.

Badminton was also played.  The winners would taken on a new team to play.

 Emily and Christopher were the team to beat in this game!

 Just a sweet happy face.

 Did I mention that the competition was keen in ALL of the games?!

 I just love this picture.  I'm not sure what Eliana and Grant were talking about, but I love it just the same.

 There is always time and place for an Eno, right?

 This looks a bit dangerous, but Isaiah was having fun and it wasn't too far to fall.

 Daniel hanging out with Kyle.

This was the only inside picture that I took.  Dinner.

 Afterwards we headed back outside for volleyball, badminton (am I the only one that did not know this was spelled with an "n" in the middle?) and basketball.

 A little bored with the games, and making their own fun.

 Trying to learn a new game is challenging at times, but fun too.

What a full and fun day.  I'm so thankful for these times.  Thankful that Christopher has such great friends in his life.  Thankful too that they enjoy hanging out with our family.  Thankful for these sweet opportunities!  Looking forward to more in the future!

with a thankful heart.
Leslie