Family Fun: Big sister A's popsicle birthday party

Big sister A has been waiting for her best friend E's visit so that she could be there for her birthday party... and summer is a better time of year for it. 

 We made a popsicle pinata. It was very sturdy.

 

 

 We bought and put up a flexible sided kiddie pool for the occasion, but the sides did not want to stay up properly - hence all the buckets around the outside edge.

 We had all kinds of "popsicles" for the party treats: freeze pops, brownie pops, and watermelon pops.

 One of the games was target practice with paint filled water guns. The kids loved it.

 

Farm Fresh: Progress update for July

The Goosie goosies are so friendly. They are coming up to check out the camera, knowing that I usually have treats for them.

Afflac the Muscovy mama sat on that second batch of eggs, but none hatched. I am not sure why. Now I am slowly kicking her and baby duck out of the chicken coop.

 This little duck family is very cute -- all hanging out together.

 Our three home hatched chicks have also been roaming free this week.

 The rainbow ranger ladies are all laying eggs now. We have been eating a lot of double yokers (since that is what often happens when hens begin laying).

The turkeys are also very friendly and tend to welcome people who come up the driveway. They have some bad habits as well. Like perching on the bed of hubby's truck. 

 And eating all around the edge of my garden - or poking their heads in to attack very tasty melons.

 The guineas like to hang out near the turkeys.  I think that was a lucky combination. The guineas and turkeys both like to eat bugs. And the turkeys deter hawks from attacking the small guineas.

 The geese also make trouble at times - eating the herbs in my herb garden like a salad.

Their is not much to say about the rabbits right now. The newest kits are growing up. I am planning to breed all 4 does in October so that we will have about 20 kits available for sale at Christmas time. Or I could just keep them. I cannot have too much rabbit manure for the garden.

Family Fun: Water Day!

The church Primary had their annual Water Day this past Saturday. Tons of slippery fun on the super slide!

 There was a water bounce house for the under 5 crowd.

 They had a massive water balloon fight in which the kids mostly clobbered the dads.

 And some family relay races - trying to fill their bucket first with a holey tube of water.

Farm Fresh: It's a jungle out there

I love this time of year in the garden. It's a jungle of goodies. 

Tomatoes, peppers, leeks, onions, carrots, and beets are all giving us lots to eat.  Melons, beans, and squash are growing like crazy. Crossing my fingers for a good harvest.

I am so glad that I planted all those zinnias this year. They are a beautiful addition all around my gardens, especially this row in the front yard. 

Only bad thing is -- the brassicas are done. Anything I have not harvested the bugs are killing. Poor kale. The dill I planted with it did not deter as many pests as I had hoped.

Family Fun: More Fireworks and a Parade

Our town saves money by having their fireworks and parade after the 4th of July. The floats all give out a ton of candy though. It was like Halloween all over again. We have it all on lockdown. One piece after dinner -- only if you ate your vegetables. 

 We were there with a bunch of friends from church and then walked over to a field where we could see the firework show. Hubby and I split our now traditional sushi plate and the kiddos had pizza while we were waiting for the parade to start.  Only thing missing was Grandpop! He was here last year at this time.

Family Reunion IV

More pictures coming in from the reunion as everyone shares with each other.  Here are some that I missed in my other posts.
Me, talking to my Goosie-goosie -- they are so tame now.

 Pool party - big sister A rode the small slides a bunch of times and then went on the big ones and loved it. She slid down over and over again with her cousins.

 Baby L and S had their swimmies on and hung out with me in the small pool a lot of the time. The liked jumping off that low step a lot.

 Baby L and cousin L at church.

 They rode the metro downtown.

 The girls at the Museum of American History -- First Ladies exhibit

 The hens have been laying in this bush for awhile now - since the broody ladies and chicks are closed up in the coop and run during the day. Apparently, this black rat snake has caught on to the possibility of easy dinners.

 We "gently" moved him back farther into the woods. Hopefully, he will get the idea?

 So many visitors = many shoes by the back door!

 I am glad that everyone enjoyed the library!

 Everyone loved the energetic way that baby L has to put her weight into it and use her foot to get the sliding door open by herself.

 

 Archery prowess - when money is at stake they dont give up until they get it.

The cousins planned and practiced for a performance all on their own. Here we are gathering in the basement to watch the show:

 Uncle A was acting as the flag.

 

 Campfire night:

 Sparklers: