Memorial Day BBQ

The long weekend was exceptionally long with Sean working away, but we rallied for a party with our wonderful neighbors and the weather was beautiful.

The kiddos all dressed up for fun:

 Out came the water guns:

Slip Sliding Away

Audubon Trip

Yesterday, we went to the Massabesic Audubon Center in Auburn.  It was beautiful.  I can't believe I didn't know it was there until now.  It is not too far from us and has some beautiful trails and a wonderful pond for collecting and learning about tadpoles and aquatic insects.  We met some friends and had a wonderful adventure enjoying the pond life and running the trails.

One Week Chickens

Well, the chickens have been with us for over a week and are already fully integrated into our daily lives. 


Here, I had to cuddle one to read books (as requested by Finn):

 Finn loves, loves, loves these chicks and is constantly asking when he can hold a chicken.  In fact, right when I began this post, Finn said to me, "Will you check on the temperature of the chickens and make sure they are doing okay?"

 Finn discovered if he was patient and still, the chicks would eat from his hand:

 It is one of the few times where he actually stays still!

 The birds are looking great.  They are becoming much more active, flapping around a lot.  They are growing and tail and wing feathers are growing quickly.

 I love all the different colors and I am starting to get to recognize each one, although we haven't actually named most of them.  We do have one that we call chipmunk because of the stripes down her back.

The Family that Gardens Together...

....gets really dirty and has a lot of fun!  We just had a big gardening weekend.  Forty-five tomato plants are in and fingers crossed for major production.  We planted our beans and some herbs, but I still have to get a ton more in this week.  I am so hopeful for a great garden this year and lots and lots of fresh eating and canning.

Sand Table

Josette received a water table for her birthday, but since we already had one, we decided to get a sand table.  It has been a lot of fun.  Here, Josette and Finn are playing in the new dry sand, but since we have wet it to make proper sand castles and such.  I was a little apprehensive about the mess of sand everywhere, but it hasn't been so bad and the fun has far outweighed any of those concerns.

We Got Chickens, Part 2

And, here are the chickens that are here to stay!  We were excited to get this box:

 What's in there?

 Finn is already a pro chick handler:

 Lily is curious, but she did very well at only sniffing

 And, then just looking resigned to more additions to the homestead:

 We ended up with 17 Amerucauna chicks, hopefully females!

 They have some beautiful colors: