Fall is one of my favorite times to be living in Nevada County! If you are one of the lucky ones that live near Grass Valley or Nevada City, you get to experience the fall color changes on a daily basis. From green, to yellow, to orange and even sometimes a deep red our beautiful area offers a wide variety of colors this time of year. In addition to all the colors there is so much to do during fall.
From fall leaf color walks, to hiking to exploring pumpkin patches, apple orchards or even a quick trip to Apple Hill. Looking for the perfect pumpkin for Halloween? Grass Valley, Nevada City and Penn Valley offer tons of options from parking-lot pumpkin patches to family owned and operated farms. We have hay rides, petting zoos and more.
For a nice day trip you can head over to Apple Hill. What an experience this is; an entire hill side of apple orchards. Each offering it’s own apples and other unique items from crafts to candy to donuts and more.
Getting There
Directions from Highway 50 to the Apple Hill® Ranches
The ranches are located just northeast of Placerville, CA … about half-way between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe. https://www.facebook.com/applehillca/
East on Highway 50 from Sacramento: Recommended exits are Exits 48, 49 and 54. There are signs on Highway 50 to direct you.
West on Highway 50 from South Lake Tahoe: Recommended exits are 54, 49 and 48. There are signs on Highway 50 to direct you.
From Highway 80 in Auburn: Take Highway 49 South to Highway 50 East. There are signs on Highway 50 to direct you.
So this fall take the time to enjoy the great outdoors and all that Nevada County and surrounding communities have to offer. There is so much to see and do!
Finally Fall Season is here. So what are the traditional activities that the locals of Placer County enjoy. The Sierra Lifestyle Team is here as not only your local connection to the Real Estate market but to the local lifestyle. So here’s a brief run down of the Fall festivities that are not to be missed.
As the Auburn fair has come and gone there are many events still to attend for quality family fun. The Forresthill heritage festival is coming up. Our close neighbors across the bridge enjoy a day full of history with many long standing traditions that include, a logging completion, a chili cook off and a good old fashioned pig roast. The center of attention for this festival is the the time old tradition of gold panning. A highly recommended experience for the whole family.
Also coming to town is the Auburn Spirits and Wine festival. This exquisite event features numerous local vendors that come together to showcase their highly desired products and services. Restaurants, breweries and wineries come together to pair up their best. These business owners are experts in their trade and are eager to expose their talents. Some of the best foods and top rated cocktails are sure to entertain anyone’s appetite.
The Auburn community festival better known locally as the harvest festival is one of my personal favorites and kicks off the fall season with a bang. The Auburn Recreational District is home to the infamous scarecrow competition, giant pumpkin contest, followed by a costume parade. As if this wasn’t exciting enough the festival is home to great food, bounce houses and cool crafts. For me this truly is the start of fall.
These are just a handful of the fall festivities that Auburn and Placer County are proud to put on. For more info on all that’s happening this fall give us a call. Here at the Sierra Lifestyle Team we are here to ensure you experience the best in our community.
When my daughter entered kindergarten nine years ago, I had this idea to start a Girl Scout troop in Nevada County. I was a Girl Scout as a young girl and wanted my daughter to have some of the same experiences. So I gathered information and started talking to parents. Before long I was hosting my first meeting with eight of the cutest little Daisy Girl Scouts at Alta Sierra Elementary in Grass Valley! This was the Beginning of Girl Scouts in Nevada County (Alta Sierra, to be exact)!
The girls participated in community service projects around Nevada County like passing out cards for Christmas at the retirement homes while Christmas Caroling. They also did pet food drives for Sammie’s friends, helped with clean up projects and even repainted the United State Map at Alta Sierra Elementary in Grass Valley. And of course the all popular Girl Scout Cookie season was an annual event for us in Nevada County.
As the girls got older keeping them interested and engaged was a challenge but a high priority to me. Our core group of girls that remain are all great girls growing into becoming amazing young ladies that support the community we live in.
The Girl Scouts offer a variety of badges and awards to earn. As younger scouts they completed the Bronze award with a community pet food drive for the animal shelter Sammie’s Friends in Grass Valley. And now as Cadette Girl Scouts some of the girls decided to take on community projects to receive their Silver award.
Karissa Johnson and Caitlin Royston attended Alta Sierra Elementary in Grass Valley for the K-5th grade and wanted to again support their alma mater. So they designed a plan to build activity boards for Alta Sierra Elementary School’s Pre- School/Kindergarten playground. The project involved all aspects from designing, creating and budgeting to building and delivering the activity boards. The girls learned skills like making a plan, developing shopping lists, recruiting volunteers to help and more. Karissa and Caitlin finished and delivered the project to Alta Sierra Elementary just hours before the first day of school. These activities boards will offer the students more variety of things to do on the playground while building fine motor skills.
Supporting the community and these girls is a passion of mine. Watching them grow and learn makes volunteering with the Girl Scouts in Nevada County worth every second!
Girls Scouts in Nevada County making a difference in our community!
For more information about The Girl Scouts in Nevada County, please visit the Girl Scouts Web Site. http://www.gssn.org/
School in Nevada County is back in session! For my family, it’s the time of year that seems most busy. Between activities, homework, birthday parties, bedtime routine, and all the other things that go along with the beginning of the Nevada County school year, I find myself stretched pretty thin. I had to find a way to take some of the responsibilities off my plate but still make sure my kids had the things they needed. I decided lunches were a good place to start.
Save time by teaching your kids how to make their own lunches!
One thing in our family we have done since preschool was have the kids help make their lunch. They started out helping by doing things like taking foods like carrot sticks or grapes out of the bag and putting it in a container. Then we taught them how to make sandwiches. Last year was the first year my oldest (7 years old) became completely responsible for making his own lunch. You may be thinking,”that is a dangerous thing to put your child in charge of his or her lunch”. (Like sending the fox to guard the henhouse) and the mess… No way!
Guidelines
First of all, we had to set some guidelines when we started this. Since preschool they learned about the 4 elements that need to be in their lunch for me to consider it a complete meal. They need a fruit, a vegetable, a protein and a fat. We talked about what each of these are. We made a list of foods they like under each heading (Protein, Fruit, Vegetable and Fat.) When they make their lunch, I will ask them what their vegetable is or what their fat is. After all elements are included, they can choose an extra. This could be a granola bar or a fruit leather, tortilla chips, etc.
Cleaning up the mess
The other part of learning to make their lunch is to clean up. They have learned over the years that they need to put dishes in the sink wipe counters (and floors sometimes) and if they miss some of the mess, it’s not a problem because I’ll just call them back to clean it up again. I do let their teacher know that they are learning to make their own lunch so if it looks “creative”, they can praise them on their hard work and daring flavor combinations (and also not to supplement their lunch if he decides he doesn’t want to eat it) I also double check to make sure all elements and correct portion sizes are included (a sprig of thyme does not count as your serving of vegetable!)
Success!
All in all it has been a success. I have children that are learning life skills and I have one less job I need to complete every night.
Resources
Here are some resources I found if you’re interested in helping your kids learn to make their own lunch:
7 Reasons why you should have a REALTOR by your side
Technology can’t replace a good Realtor, here’s why;
In this day and age everything is online. You buy a car online, clothes, furniture, vacations and even food! So why can’t you buy or sell a house online. After all For Sale By Owners don’t have to pay commissions or closing costs and make more money right? WRONG!! Without a professional to guide you down the path of home ownership you could be unaware of some costly mistakes you’re making. If you’re looking to buy or sell in Placer County or Nevada County call us today. Here is seven reason why working with a professional Realtor and specifically the Sierra Lifestyle Team can benefit you greatly!
List at the right PRICE!! Our team are experts in the Placer County Real Estate and Nevada County Real Estate markets. We know how to get the perfect price to sell quickly and for the most money.
Better home presentations!! Knowing how to present your home to buyers in the most effective and aesthetically pleasing way can be tough. We know exactly what buyers want to see and also what can be a huge turn off.
Getting more buyers. Who is going to buy your house? Do you know them and can give them a call? Promoting properties and gaining most exposure is our priority.
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Negotiations, Inspections and RESULTS!! Now that you have an accepted offer the real work begins. Having a Realtor to do all the negociating and inspection work can cut your costs and keep more money in your pocket.
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Need to sell your house? Want to get it done quickly and get the most money?? Call us today so we can go to work for you!
Summertime travelers have left local business in a lull.
This has been a summer much different than what we have seen in the last couple of years. Due to the drought conditions the last few summers have seen a hiatus in waterway usage. The low lakes and rivers have made it less than ideal to pack up the kids and hang by the water for the day. As this has hampered our local lifestyle the businesses in town have had a nice boost in business. People have been hanging around and taking advantage of all that is going on in town. From fine dining to window shopping there is much to see and do.
This summer has presented quite a change for the community. As the winter rains proved to be prolific outdoor activities have made their resurgence. Between the high flowing rivers and the lakes leveling the locals have hit the water. As the weekend rolls around people are grabbing sandwiches and ice chests and are on their way out to the water. For a few years we have been deprived of our favorite summer time traditions and have had to find fun elsewhere. Now that we have been blessed with rains we taking advantage of all the waterway activities. Although this brings joy and happiness to many, the local business are taking the hit. The boost in business over the last few summers have left local business accustomed to larger crowd. With everyone out on the water this year the lull is real.
As back to school has already hit for some and others it’s right around the corner the locals have returned. Back to the weekly routines of school, work, grocery shopping and finally back out to the restaurants and business that sustain our daily life. It has been a great summer and we’re all happy to see the locals back in town!
to yellow, to orange and even sometimes a deep red our beautiful area offers a wide variety of colors this time of year. In addition to all the colors there is so much to do during fall.
beginning of the Nevada County school year, I find myself stretched pretty thin. I had to find a way to take some of the responsibilities off my plate but still make sure my kids had the things they needed. I decided lunches were a good place to start.
