WEEKEND RUNNING

We had a very productive weekend, despite neglecting our big projects. ^ We even fit in fifty or so belly rubs for sweet Rosie.

We started the weekend plant shopping. We loaded our car up with all kinds of beauties. I’m someone who wants the inside to look as much like the outside as possible.We have enough for the inside, porch and  deck. Friday night was better than Christmas for me!

We killed our first two chickens. They were our two biggest, and the bullies of the bunch. They were destroying (and in some cases, killing) our other hens. Hopefully now, the other hens can flourish, and live a happy, stress free life.

We may also have a rooster in the mix. We don’t want a rooster, so if we do keep him, he may have to roam free from the ladies. We don’t want our chicken population to get out of hand. We may end up giving him away (unless his papa is already attached…he has his daddy’s appreciation for all things birds).

^  Amelia tried to steal Daddy’s broom. She’s kind of a job thief.  ^

Penelope was a mama’s girl big time!  I am blessed with two snuggle bugs, and Miss Penelope delivered big time this weekend.

The girls found some canvas boxes and had races & train rides for days. 

Every year we find new plants popping up around the yard. ^  This bush is one of them. We also have several patches of pink flowers, and some orange wild flowers (so far).

Rosie has been getting a lot of time with us, and even gets to come in for a bit most days. She lays just like ^ this ^  in the kitchen the whole time. I guess she just likes being closer to us…or she likes the cold floor.

We also went grocery shopping!!! Since we cook three full meals from as-close-to-scratch as we can, we run short of stuff quicker than we’d like. Noodles, rice, and beans are pretty much the only things we get that keep a while.

Zack has four and half days left of school! By lunch time Friday we plan to be celebrating by camping and enjoying the river! The rain can stay away for a day or two, right? It hasn’t shown any evidence that it is capable of staying away, but if it does, we’ll be camping!

SPLASH GOES THE WINNER

I have had enough of fevers, chest coughs, snot, and swollen baby gums (and the inside of my house, if I’m being totally honest). We needed a break from sanitizing and nose wiping Monday afternoon, so we took a trip to the beach.

The blue towel is water, and the white is sand, and that is good enough for them!

Supplies: :

Nutella toast, water and lots  of icebergs (ice cubes).

A ballerina one piece, a surf ready two piece, enough sunglasses to go around and plenty of sunscreen.

Towels for lounging (or swimming on), iPad for music, and magazines for browsing.

She reads magazines back to front like her momma before her and her momma’s mom before her.

We played games with bowls and cups full of water, paired with an endless supply of icebergs. Penelope created all of the games – my favorite had to be, Splash Goes the Winner!  – in which you splash your ice cube into the bowl of water. You’d think, well then does everyone win?  You’d think, but Amelia ate her ice cubes, so she didn’t qualify.

We are in our element during these warm sunny days!

TRAIL HOPPING

In my typical fashion, I abandoned laundry (but did the dishes!) and took the girls out. This time it was for location scouting, but I ended up just taking [a million] photos of my girls enjoying themselves on the trails.

Miss independent. In her own little big world.

Last Saturday the girls and I took and day trip to get the girls summer clothes (and of course  accessories!!). We picked up my mom and made it even more fun of an outing! Penelope chose dresses over shorts, and I am LOVING the choices we made!

She saw a “money.” By that I’m sure she meant a large bird. :)

Oh! The hand holding…

At trial number two we had a picnic! We started out at the picnic table, but the wind picked up and we polished lunch off in the back of the van.

We had a little shoot on the railroad tracks, and Penelope scored a rock on her way back to the car. Amelia did a face plant, and scraped her arms and hands pretty bad, so we cut our trip short. Well, we were 2+ hours into our outing, but only walked one of the three trails we intended to.

No doubt on the next sunny day we’ll finish those trails! I’m so grateful I can stay home with these beauties!!

8 AM NATURE WALK

This morning the girls and I rushed to eat breakfast, get dressed, and drag ourselves out the door. Why? I’m not sure. Maybe we just really felt the need to be outside.

We stopped by a cemetery in the park that was used in the mid-late 1800s. Penelope wanted to stay all day. She said it was pretty and she liked it there. When Amelia asked to get her blanket out of the car, we decided to find a new spot to walk around.

^  stick trumpet  ^

We drove up to our favorite path by the river, and took our sweet time.

Amelia sat down as slowly as she could, looked around and then laughed as hard as she could. I’m still not sure why she did it – or why she thought it was so funny, but it put a big smile on my face!

This girl and her blanket…yeesh.

I wonder if she’ll always have a love for blankets.

There was no shortage of mud puddles! Hooray for rain boots!!

“What do you think those are, Penelope?”

“Raisins?”

“…maybe chocolate.”

Dead snake. Is this right up there with taking photos of your food?

Before we headed back to the car, we played a game of tag. :)

We also had a picnic of tomatoes (whole tomatoes eaten like apples!), one cookie split in two, and some popcorn. All in all, we spent over two hours walking around. Couldn’t ask for a better morning.

I think we’ll head back later today with Rosie and Penelope’s bike!