Ace

We had two foals this year. The kids love to visit them, and Connor always points to the mares and says "Mama" and then points to the foals and says "baby!" After preparing lunch for our farrier students last Thursday, we went to the barn to let the class know dinner was ready. While we waited for them to find a good stopping place, we decided to hang out with "Ace" the younger of our foals. He has a "1" shaped blaze on his face - hence the name.

Meet Miss Mittens

I guess the previous post could've been titled, "While the Cat's Away...We get another cat!" But we really are happy to have Jake home. He's pretty irreplaceable. But, we DID get a kitten while he was gone. Hopefully, she'll help keep the rodents down out here in the country. The kids can't get enough of her. She has no tail, but has two cute white "mittens" on her front paws. She puts up with a lot from these munchkins, and I worry that maybe she won't be such a friendly cat if she gets too much from them. Connor especially has a hard time being gentle. He just wants to love her constantly (we've nicknamed him "Elmira").

I'm definitely ready for her to be an outside kitty, but I'm not sure she's made herself at home enough yet to stick around. I hope she figures out that she lives here soon. Sadly, I'm suspecting that I've developed an allergy to cats. Something I never had to deal with before, and quite frankly, something that really stinks for an animal lover like myself.

While the Cat's Away...

...We will play! Jake, Pete and their dad were away this last weekend at a horseshoeing contest. Their mom flew to Utah to help her daughter. Sarah and I were left here to hold down the fort. We decided the fort could hold itself down and took the kids to Riverside Zoo in Scottsbluff, NE. It is a teeny tiny zoo, which is perfect for teeny tiny kids. And, after 60something degree days, it happened to be near 100 that particular afternoon. Fortunately, walking around to see all the critters didn't take long, and the wonderful water feature at the end of the tour kept us all from melting! *Note to self: Next trip to the zoo, wear swimsuits!!!

This poor tiger was pacing and salivating. Slightly creepy.

Slightly creepier was this snoozing lion who kept opening his orange eye to stare at us as we stared at him through the glass window. (And then Sarah and I noticed the electric wiring just in front of each window to keep the big cats from lunging. Creepiest of all!!!)

My little monkey.

Beverage break!

Caroline, Sophie & Clayton!

We loved feeding the geese & ducks. Caroline especially enjoyed it - until the mama goose took a nip at her toes.

Connor couldn't get enough of the water fowl either, but particularly liked feeding the fish that swam in a huge school right beneath the surface.

I love this little diapered bum! It took Connor a while to get comfortable with the water shooting everywhere, but he warmed up to the idea.

Clayton couldn't get enough of it!

And Caroline was just thrilled to not be roasting - of all of the kiddos, she was the one complaining the most about the heat at the end of our visit.

Hello, Clayton's tummy!

Poor Sophie. The second my kids were stripped out of their wet clothes and in the warm car, they both crashed. On her. I think the look on her face says it all!

12 reasons...

...asking your 5 1/2 year old to, "please keep an eye on your little brother while I take a 5 minute shower" is not a great strategy.