Super Surprise Visitors

I have been keeping a big secret from the kids for about a month.  Our besties that moved to Utah 3 years ago were coming to visit.  They wanted to surprise the kids and meet up somewhere.  We met at the temple open house on a Friday morning. 

There was a lot of shrieking when they came up to us in the parking lot. Hugs and joy all around.

It was a rainy week, but we still had loads of fun.

On Saturday we went up to Lancaster to spend the day eating, enjoying the rural scenery, and shopping for goodies.

We ate freshly made mini doughnuts at Weavers Hardware store.

We went to most of our old favorites and some new places too.

On Sunday we gave out plants for Mother's Day and they went to visit their Grandma.  Monday we took it easy.   I did some gardening and we went to the park and library near our house. 

On Tuesday we went to Gettysburg.  We did the narrated audio driving tour this time.

We rushed from there to the big wooden slide at Rocky Ridge park. There we met up with another homeschool family friend and they fed us all dinner. 

On Wednesday we had a busy day of swimming lessons and pottery class.  Then on Thursday we went to tour around Annapolis.  We visited the US Naval Academy.

They have a lovely cathedral and crypt.

The crypt of Commodore John Paul Jones - great naval leader of the American Revolution.

The "midshipmen" were mostly all gone home for the summer so we did not get the full campus experience, but made our own fun. 

I love the signs at the exit of the academy.

Then we headed over the the famous Chick and Ruth's Delly on Main Street.  Other than a little crab omelet debacle it was yummy and fun.  Most of the kids said that they like the Whitehorse Luncheonette (Lancaster) better.

We went on to visit the Maryland State house.  We saw the senate and house chambers as well as the white board listing bills being signed. 

The Tiffany glass ceilings in both chambers were beautiful.

Statue of Frederick Douglas.

We finished up the day with a trip to the beach.  

It was not hot, but the kids waded into the bay anyway.  They built moats and frolicked in the waves. 

Big sister A found an incredible Native American arrowhead in the sand. They also found lots of sea glass and shells.

Friday we rested and hung out.  Our buddies went to lunch with their Grandma.  The girls went to a birthday party together for most of the evening. We made kimchi and cooked dinner together.  And then just like that, it was Saturday morning and time to say farewell.  We are so glad they came and already missing them again.  Thank goodness for Facetime and Skype. :)

 

Animal Adventures: New Pets, Farm Hatchings, and Wild Things

 Lots of animal adventures happened here on the farm in the last month. 

Our sweet barn kitty Strawberry broke her leg. It looked bad from the start.  I thought maybe the vet could pop it back into place and splint it for her.  Alas, they said the same thing that they did for poor Smokey W: 5K + for orthopedic surgery or amputation.  We went ahead with the amputation for Smokey W. and she died of depression shortly thereafter.  So this time I determined to go again the doctor's orders and try my herbal remedies instead. 

I made her a comfrey salve and have been putting it on her twice a day for the last 2 weeks or so.  She mostly licks it off, but it works internally as well as externally.  She is already putting some weight on the leg and seems worlds better.  I am so glad it's working.   Mother Nature is an amazing healer when we know the right plants to use. 

We have hatched two incubators full of ducklings and sold all but 9.  Two more incubators are due to hatch in a couple weeks.  We will keep selling ducklings all summer long. 

They started in the livestock tub, but quickly outgrew it.

A friend let her kids have a pair of Khaki Campbells over Easter break and then gave them to us. I already sold them on to a new family.

We built a bigger brooder for the ducklings since they are selling a lot slower than they did last year.

While giving the front walkway a sweep I found this fellow.   At first, we thought it was a juvenile copperhead, but it lacked the bright green tail.  It was just a young rat snake so we shooed it off into the underbrush.  Hopefully it will kill lots of pesky rats!!

We found a nest of guinea eggs and I tried to hide it from the dogs, but they are too smart by half.  They found it, broke through the defensive branches,  and ate them all up. 

Our fellow homeschoolers gave away these budgies/parakeets, including the cage and a big bottle of food.  The girls were excited to get their own house pet.  And I, of course, am a pushover when it comes to pets. 

Now M & S have a lizard and fish and the girls have parakeets in their room.  It's a zoo.

Last month, the kids did a service activity for 4H.  They brought their bunnies to display and talk about at our local chick-fil-a.

M brought Alexander - a chocolate Silver Fox buck.

A's bunny Cedar is a little Polish buck. 

Some of our bunnies came home from the PaSRBA rabbit show with snuffles.  There is no cure and it's highly contagious.  Luckily, we seem to have it contained to the barn bunnies.  But we are still so sad! I am planning to butcher a large number of rabbits the first weekend in June.  Hopefully we can keep it from spreading. 

The kids have been helping exercise our friends' German Shepherd, Kirche.  We all love her.  She is beautiful and very energetic. She does all the fetching and catching that our dogs are not interested in doing. 

She catches the frisbee or soccer ball right out of the air. 

We think she loves us too.  When we get ready to go, she jumps in the car and wants to come along home with us. 

April Showers and Activities: Egg Hunting

We had our Primary Easter Egg hunt this weekend.  It was baby A's first time hunting for eggs.  He was not too enthusiastic at first.  He has been playing with our empty decorative Easter eggs for a month.  After I opened the egg and showed him that there was actually candy inside, he got down to business. 

We hid 12 eggs per child and let the younger kids hunt first. After they had found their 12 each we let the older children come out to hunt for their 12 eggs.  Unfortunately, some of the eggs must have been hidden in tricky places because a few of the older children only found a couple of eggs.   We had plenty of extras to supplement it, but were trying to avoid having eggs left out on the lawn to attract rodents. 

Brother S used the toolbox that he made at Cub Scouts :)

Our 4H kiddos brought their bunnies to be the guests of honor at egg hunt.  Telling the primary children about their rabbits also counts as a communication activity for them as 4H volunteers. 

 Miss L finally got a bunny of her own.  He is a purebred Mini Rex named Popcorn.  She has been diligently caring for him.  I think she will be ready to join 4H as soon as she turns 8!

I have a big pile of gravel and masonry sand on the driveway that is SUPPOSED to be for my hardscape garden steps project in the front yard...  The kids and dogs find it irresistible.  I only have 2 of 6 steps done so far.  I need to hurry up before all my sand gets dragged away haha!

Baby A likes to go out and sit on the tractor every chance he gets. He delights in wearing daddy's helmet and pushing the buttons. 

We have had a lot of rainy days this week.  It's perfect spring time weather and the garden is loving it.  I also had to document Baby A wearing his boots.  It's his first time willingly wearing shoes.  We have been talking to him about it and he is starting to warm up to the idea that everyone should wear shoes outside. 

Miss L has taken on the duty of egg collector. Brother M was in charge of it, but he has so many chores already and L loves going outside every morning to bring the eggs in. 

The flowers on either side of our front porch are blooming happily. I love rain!

Family Schooling Summary: Reptiles and Art Classes

 Our little art class co-op has been continuing to meet.  Last week the kids learned about Pablo Picasso and Cubism.  Here are some samples of the art project that went with that lesson. 

We have been doing a quick run through The Good and The Beautiful's: Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish curriculum for our science class. 

We have also been going through an anatomy coloring book and getting ready for some summer science projects that I hope to have the kids work on. 

Two weeks ago we learned about Piet Mondrian in our art class.  His art style is very interesting, but a little hard to connect with. 

Here are a couple of the worksheets and projects that went with that lesson. 

Pottery party

 Our kids get to have friend birthday parties when they turn 5, 8, and 12.  Because of covid we have a backlog of friend birthday parties.  Brother S used his friend birthday party to have a pottery class at Dusty Road Pottery studio.  

Ms. Jenny taught the kids lessons in both hand building and using the wheel. 

The hardest thing about using the pottery wheel is getting the clay centered. 

For their hand building project the kids made either a pot or a mug. 

Everyone had a great time.  The older kids especially love building with clay.  I think it would be great for them to do a homeschool pottery class for a month or two with Miss Jenny.  We agreed to talk more about it when we pick up our clay pieces.