Easter Chicks

So we decided to raise our own backyard flock of chickens. A potentially bold move, but one that is certainly becoming more commonplace in this new era of uncertainty and low enviromental impact. I however, not even being a person who eats eggs, wanted them soley for their ability to eat bugs. I hear they're pretty good at catching scorpions, we'll see. The kids and I went to a nearby feed store and picked them out the Friday before Easter. Each one of the kids got to pick a chick and away we went with our new babies. We brought them home, made them a safe place in the laundry room to live and then decided that we better go get a couple more, just incase. Back-up birds if you will. This is a picture of the babies on Easter Sunday. Abigail named Awesome (pronounced; A-Sum) and Lellow-Chic-E. Emily named Do-Si-Do (aka Dodo Bird) and Pretty Princess Penelope (aka Penny). Billy named his chick Kevin. They are pretty cute when they are all fuzzy tiny little orbs with feet.

Easter Sunday

Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime. ~ Martin Luther

We spent Easter Sunday at Bill and Bette's with the whole family. Pam, John, JJ, Tami and their beautiful new baby girl Faith (she has the most precious red hair) even joined us this year. It was nice. The food was great and the weather was perfect. The kids had the traditional Easter Egg Hunt. I think Erin stuffed something like 90 eggs for them this time!
This is how poor Abigail spent Easter Sunday....

I have no idea why, but she was exhausted and volunteered for a nap after we ate. She missed the "hunt". All was not lost though! Her cousins are SO sweet, when she did finally wake up they chose to give up some of their loot and hide some eggs for her. This is her hiding...I can't see you...

Happy Easter!

Legoland

Legoland. As I might have mentioned we went to Legoland while we were in Carlsbad for spring break with the Pezzelle's. Did you know that? Legoland. Just wanted to type it one more time in case you missed it the first sixteen.
So, we went to Legoland with the Pezzelle's. We had a great time as always. Megan's kids had not been there in years. Actually since the first or second year it opened. So they were excited to see everything. Lego's are a big deal you know. Max signed up to take a robot building class. He got to see all the major cities miniature sized out of Lego's and he even ran into one of his hero's. See Alfred up there! Law and Billy also got to pose with a... thing of some sort. A Bionicle, I think. We aren't quite there yet. Billy is still a Duplo kinda kid.

However, the really big news from this trip has more to do with Squish than anything else. She has officially graduated to the 36" mark! This is big news in the theme park world. It opens up a whole new level of ride to her. No more kiddie land for this girl! She got to ride her very first roller coaster without ANY hesitation at all. This girl worries me... If you think back to older posts, perhaps the "An Artist" one where she inked herself, or what about the "High School Football Phenom" one when she danced for the news camera? I can recall too many to list. She's fearless. It's concerning as a parent. Just look at her face...

Gearing up....

Getting pretty excited...

Holy! What is this crazy thing!! You can tell she is kind of lost between sheer excitement and fear. Remember that feeling?

Well it turned itself over into complete exhilaration. She had so much fun on that first roller coaster ride that when she got off she came running over to tell me about it and lost all 7 of her words and just decided, spur of the moment, to lift her shirt over her head and show everyone around why we call her Squish as she squealed with excitement. L.O.V.E. her.
Later that day (and still) whenever you ask her about it she says, "I go up. I go down. I say WHEEEeeee!"


Not to be out done, her Daddy-O put on quite a show for everyone as well. Here he is with Law and Billy. See the kid on the right? He thought it was funny. Here are some more pictures of fun. Notice poor Billy is not in them? He, unfortunately, has not moved out of the 36" bracket and still can't ride the big kid rides. It's sad really, but if he would eat something beside snacks maybe I would be writing about celebrating his graduation to the 40" mark. There's always next time, poor kid.

Beach * Ball *

On our most recent trip to Carlsbad...

All real ball players need a concentration face.

The pitch.

The swing.

The look of "eh, it was no big deal." After successfully hitting a home run into the ocean. (Yes we did retrieve the ball, there are no whale murdering Kramer's in this bunch.)

It was a quick trip, but Travis and Uncle Mike got to be there! Kind of a big deal because they never get to coordinate the same schedule it seems. They work so much it's nearly impossible. We went the Patsy's beach where the creepiest looking gigantic sand fleas or possibly smallest sand crabs had set-up residence. Strange occurrence. We also went to Legoland (more on that later) and Pizza Port of course. We missed the farmers market, but we did get to have a fantastic dinner with the neighbors. Carne asada from Rodeo. All in all a great time!

April Showers Bring May...

Flowers!

I bought a sad looking twig of a tree at Home Depot of all places late last spring. Mostly because it was on sale. It limped through the summer in a pot on the patio, much to my surprise. Then I figured for sure it will succumb to frost and die over the winter but it didn't. So, I figured it deserved a rightful place in the yard as a reward. Travis helped me plant it a month or two ago and look what it gave back! It was covered in the prettiest bright pink flowers for a couple weeks before leafing out. Who knew! I love those kinda surprises.

Just wanted to memorialize on the world-wide web the fact that it did actually bloom at least once in it's life.

St. Patty's Day

- From left to right, Kendall, Emi, Abi, Billy, Haylee and Cohen.
It just so happens that on St. Patrick's Day we went to my friend Patty's house to inspect her chicken coop. What can I say, when I commit to something, I seriously commit. How funny is it though that we were at Patty's on St. Patty's?
After the annual Mom's Club picnic at the park a small group of us went over to check out Patty's spread. I had asked about coming over to see her chicken coop (which actually houses 2 chickens, 2 ducks and 2 bunnies) and she was gracious enough to invite the whole lot of us over to see the animals. She also has 4 horses (Mark, Buddy, Dante and Cheyenne a mini horse) and 2 dogs. So the kids got to run around, throw back a case of juice boxes and ride Buddy the horse. I can't help it..."Merry Christmas, this is Buddy. What's your favorite color?" Okay, I feel better. Buddy is a super sweet guy. He was really good with all the kids and they loved him. It was a love fest! I loved her chickens and the coop.

Open Ranch Day at the Double Check

We took a leisurely Saturday morning drive out to the Double Check Ranch recently. The ranch itself is somewhere west of Dudleyville, AZ, however the address is from Winkleman. There really is no point to that comment other than the simple fact that I like the names of said towns. That being said, the reason for our drive: chickens. Cluck, cluck. I have always wanted to have a turkey just for a pet. I have no idea why, but it's true. As a consolation prize Travis has jumped on the backyard chicken bandwagon and we're off. That was all I needed. So Double Check supplies all natural grass-fed beef and fresh eggs to a couple restaurants in the Tucson area and some local farmers markets up here. From their website I learned of Open Ranch Day. A day, once a month, when they invite their patrons to come check things out at the ranch. Sarah (so nice) and her husband are gracious enough to have complete strangers invade their home on a regular basis and she had some great insight on chicken husbandry for me. I like to be enlightened from a practical perspective before diving into things, doesn't always mean I will use the advice...It just makes it easier for everyone else to say, "I told you so" afterward.
The ranch was beautiful and we learned all sorts of things. Including how they process the beef right there in the backyard. Sounds gruesome, but it was actually really fascinating to see. I also got some first hand advice on how to go about raising hens. Very useful. The little chickadee's (3) should be arriving at home this weekend!

This is Katherine (Paul & Sarah's little girl), she found a book about princess Emily in the back of our car and Abi and Triton were all to happy to hear a story.

Moo.

Checking out the pasture.

Sarah, giving the kids a lesson about what grasses they plant for the cattle to eat. What weeds the cattle choose not to eat and the differences between the two. Cows have four tummy's and just because it's green does not mean they like it. They also burp, a lot.

It was a really nice day. I saw an adopt-a-highway sign... The Crafty Ladies of Dudleyville. I think our three chickens have to be referred to as such. The ranch website, just in case. www.doublecheckranch.com