Eats & Reads: The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree

Today begins a new type of post that I hope to come up with at least once or twice a month:  Eats & Reads.  These will be snack or lunch related posts that go along with a book we have read or are currently reading!  :)

This past week, we thoroughly enjoyed the book "The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree" (see link below) during our "Apples" theme.  I decided I just had to make something fun to go along with the book, and it HAS been a while since I posted one of these (snack/lunch ideas), so here you go!  :)

What it looked like before my daughter began the seasonal transformations below...

SPRING!

SUMMER!

AUTUMN!

WINTER!

SIDE NOTE:  I love the craft/activity we made to go along with this book as well and will be posting it later in the week with some other apple related activities.  :)

Why I Like This Book: 

I love how Gibbons portrays the seasonal changes, not only with the tree itself but in Arnold's activities and wardrobe as well.  I also enjoy the subtle tie that Arnold has with this tree - it seems to be his special spot for playing, imagining, etc.  Perhaps it speaks to the child in me....  :)

Snack Details:
Tree Trunk: peanut butter and apple butter sandwich with Nutella details. Fruit roll-up tree leaves.
Muffin cup#1: string cheese flowers and celery leaf buds.
Muffin cup#2: cut up snow pea leaves and M&M red apples.
Muffin cup#3: carrot and dried cranberry leaves for Autumn.
Muffin cup#4: marshmallow snow!
Wording details: Nutella



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Apple-onia - El Fin (The End)

We awoke this morning to a wonderful surprise!

Thank you Apple-onia and thank YOU boys and girls who helped us along the way!

We hope you had as much fun as we did!  :)

P.S. I will be posting some other apple activities we worked on sometime next week!)

Apple-onia Revealed!

We did it!  We solved the combination puzzle and opened the suitcase, and you'll never guess what was inside!

We always knew Apple-onia was a special apple, but we didn't realize how special.  Inside her suitcase, we found papers telling us that she is a magical apple from the Sweets-N-Treats Orchard run by Fairy Appletart.  When she is planted she will grow into a surprise by the following day!

As soon as she saw the papers, the rest of Apple-onia's memory returned.  She said she had been on a truck traveling from place to place in search of just the right spot to plant herself.  We supposed she would now want to continue on her journey...BUT - what a surprise!  She told us she had found the perfect place to grow, and it was right here with us!

Wow!  Isn't that wonderful?  We certainly were happy to hear that!  :)  So tonight we will follow the directions we found in her suitcase and plant her before bedtime.  Real apples take a long time to grow, but apparently magical apples can change overnight!  What do you think she will become?  We are excited to find out!  Are you?

Apple-onia: The Suitcase...

Guest what!  Apple-onia remembered how she ended up at our door!

Although we discussed many different possibilities of what could have happened to her, including the banana idea suggested by some detective friends (see the comment section in an earlier post), none of our speculation seemed to trigger her memory.  

We were about to give up when she suddenly fell off the toy truck she had been playing on.  Don't worry!  She wasn't hurt.  But the fall did help her remember that she had been riding on a truck with some other apples and had fallen out, hitting her head, when the truck went over a very large bump!  Fortunately, she landed right in front of our driveway and that was how she came into our home (and hearts, we might add).

Apple-onia was so happy to finally remember what had happened to her that she danced a funny little apple dance.  We were so thrilled for her that we felt like dancing too!

When she finally stopped spinning, we asked her if she also remembered everything else about her life.  She thought very hard for a moment and then said she still could not remember where she had come from.  

Then we remembered her suitcase!  Perhaps we could find some clues about where she had come from by looking inside of it.  Did she remember the combination?

No, she did not.  HOWEVER, she did have one recollection of taping a piece of paper to the bottom of the suitcase with some clues on it to help her remember which lock buttons to press.   We checked it and...

YES!  It was still there!

Will you help us figure out the combination?

Apple-onia: One Mystery Solved!

Hooray!  We were able to figure out what kind of apple our new friend is, and it seems you agree!  Apple-onia is a beautiful Gala apple!

We did a little more sleuthing to see if we could find out where she might be from.  Her sticker said she came from the United States of America (USA) so we tried to figure out what states grow Gala apples.  Then we colored those states on a map!   She could have come from Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Michigan, or some of the other states we found as well.  What states do you think you could find?

Apple-onia is so pleased to finally know what kind of apple she is and to learn some of the states she might have come from.  It sure is fun to help our friends!  We just wish we could help Apple-onia figure out what happened to her head and her memory.  We removed her band-aid today and as you can see, her bruise is still there, AND it still hurts a bit.

We asked her if she had any enemies that might want to hurt her, but she didn't know.  How about you? Do you know if apples have any enemies?  Could someone or something have done this to her on purpose?

How do you get bruises?  Do you think apples can get hurt in the same way?  Could this just have been a terrible accident?

Will you brainstorm with us and tell us what you think might have happened?  Perhaps something we think of will help Apple-onia remember what happened to her.

Calling All Little Detectives: Will You Help Apple-onia?!

Apple-onia is feeling much better today, thanks to some of your wonderful suggestions yesterday as well as some TLC on our part!  Just take a look at some of the things we did below.

We gave her a band-aid to cover her bruise.

We also made her a nice bed in a basket and wrapped her up in a soft blanket.  We think the rest was good for her!

Here she is receiving a warm, happy hug!  :)  Hugs are pretty important for making us feel good!

We gave her a present to cheer her up as well.  We all love presents!  Don't you?  Do you know what was inside?

A new hairbow!!!  She tried it on right away.  Doesn't she look lovely?

Someone suggested a caramel bath - wouldn't that be wonderful?  However, we did not have caramel so we decided to give her a Nutella facial mask instead.  She seemed to think that was a real treat!

Who doesn't love a good story and snuggle?  Apple-onia is no exception!  My daughter read her a book about apples that she had made last year.  Apple-onia enjoyed looking at the pictures.

We have so enjoyed helping Apple-onia to recover!  It is a wonderful thing to help those in need, AND we like having a new friend.

My, she is such a curious fruit!  Why just this afternoon we were showing her pictures of different kinds of apples and she wondered what type of apple she might be.  Then we had a wonderful, amazing idea!  We told her that some apples in stores have stickers on them that say where they came from and what kind of apple they are.  Did she have a sticker?

Why, yes!  We checked and found one on her back, BUT part of it is missing!  Still, there is enough of it left that we think we might be able to figure out what kind of apple she is by looking at her coloring and the sticker.   Would you like to help us?  Here is a picture of the sticker (that little letter in the peach colored part is a "G"):

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A Surprise Visitor!

Oh my!  Did we ever have a surprise this afternoon!
We heard a knock and opened our front door to find this poor apple sitting right outside!

Looking very sad and very tired, she showed us a big bruise on her head - OUCH!  She told us she could not remember what happened to her or where she came from.  She could only remember her name - Apple-onia - and could we please help her?

Of course we invited her in to our home.   She had a pink suitcase with her but said she could not remember the code to open it.  We told her that it did not matter right now, that she had a lovely name, and that we would help her in any way we could.

We thought that other boys and girls might like to help as well.  Would you?  We certainly hope so!

Poor Apple-onia!  Her head hurts so much, and she seems so sad and tired right now.  What do you think we could do to help her feel better?  What do YOU do when you feel sad or tired or get hurt?

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