Monday, 27 July 2015
Happy Summer Time
Yesterday both Eden and Z were looking forward to winter and all its joys -- sledding, snowfall, Christmas. But I love summer -- warm and carefree and happy summer.
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| Eight male chicks came with the ducklings to keep them warm. We gave them away on Craigslist but Eden loved them while we had them. |
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| What a grown-up boy. |
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| On the 4th of July we walked up the hill and watched our neighbors set off some fantastic fireworks! It was the best show we've seen in Sioux Falls since we moved here. |
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| Eden discovered that crushing the sidewalk chalk and mixing it with water turns it into great paint which is especially good for face painting. |
Sunday, 26 July 2015
Monday, 13 July 2015
Stupid Circle of Life.
[Nathan reporting.]
Well, they're all dead now. All seven ducklings. We loved them from their eggy beginnings, watching them develop, break out, grow at a rapid pace. Then the raccoons came one night and decapitated them all. We thought we had sealed their outside pen well enough, but to no avail. The chunky masked varmints toppled a sawhorse and snuck underneath somehow, devouring everything inside. In the morning there were only two bloody corners, netting stained red.
Christina was pretty crushed by the whole event. She still can't blog about it.
The children, you may be surprised to hear, were unfazed by the slaughter. They seem to have accepted the vicissitudes of country living. (However, a few days later Z's beloved exercise ball, Bob, popped, and it took all our doing to prevent a seven year-old meltdown.)
I encouraged Christina to order some more ducklings, this time hatched and by mail. Soon after we had five ducklings. But the funny thing was that, beside the quackers, there were eight Rhode Island Red chicks stuffed in the mailing box. Christina called about the "mistake" and was told that chicks are stuffed in the box to keep the frail little duckies warm. Chicks are cheaper than hay, she was told. We ended up with quite a set of peepers.
So the story has a happy ending. Well, happyish. One of the ducklings got pecked in the head by a chick and perished. The Rhode Island Reds were pretty vicious, so I listed them on Craigslist and had them gone in an afternoon, which led to Eden pouting for some time. But playtime with the ducklings in the swimming pool has the whole family gleeful. Sometimes the best remedy is to immerse yourself in waves of new happy memories. Fortunately, we have no shortage of them coming at us these days.
Well, they're all dead now. All seven ducklings. We loved them from their eggy beginnings, watching them develop, break out, grow at a rapid pace. Then the raccoons came one night and decapitated them all. We thought we had sealed their outside pen well enough, but to no avail. The chunky masked varmints toppled a sawhorse and snuck underneath somehow, devouring everything inside. In the morning there were only two bloody corners, netting stained red.
Christina was pretty crushed by the whole event. She still can't blog about it.
The children, you may be surprised to hear, were unfazed by the slaughter. They seem to have accepted the vicissitudes of country living. (However, a few days later Z's beloved exercise ball, Bob, popped, and it took all our doing to prevent a seven year-old meltdown.)
I encouraged Christina to order some more ducklings, this time hatched and by mail. Soon after we had five ducklings. But the funny thing was that, beside the quackers, there were eight Rhode Island Red chicks stuffed in the mailing box. Christina called about the "mistake" and was told that chicks are stuffed in the box to keep the frail little duckies warm. Chicks are cheaper than hay, she was told. We ended up with quite a set of peepers.
So the story has a happy ending. Well, happyish. One of the ducklings got pecked in the head by a chick and perished. The Rhode Island Reds were pretty vicious, so I listed them on Craigslist and had them gone in an afternoon, which led to Eden pouting for some time. But playtime with the ducklings in the swimming pool has the whole family gleeful. Sometimes the best remedy is to immerse yourself in waves of new happy memories. Fortunately, we have no shortage of them coming at us these days.
Thursday, 9 July 2015
Wedding
Nathan and I went to a wedding in Omaha last weekend. The kids stayed with Lisa and everyone had a great time!
Wednesday, 8 July 2015
Visit from the Hitchcocks
Jeremy and Ann and their kids -- Evie, Libby, and Gideon -- visited us from Oregon in June. We had a great time! We hung out, went on some hikes, swam in the pool, and just enjoyed seeing each other. It was great to get the kids together, and last time we saw Gideon he was only 5 months old, so it was fun to catch up with him as almost a 2 year old!
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