Chickens and More

These chickens have been an adventure. I can't believe how quickly they have grown. Their cage is on the "craft table" in the playroom, so we see and interact with them all the time. Once, when they were smaller, one of them climbed into the sleeve of Tori's robe and seemed to fall asleep immediately.  The other kids went running to get their robes on, and they all sat there giggling as chicks climbed around in their sleeves.  We have definitely worried about how the cat would do with the chicks, but this photo, taken the day after they arrived, shows the first and last time he ever showed any interest in them:

Here's John starting on their chicken coop.  He's hopeful he can finish it today, and then I can add a picture of the finished product.  It is going to be fancy!  (The kids took these pictures.  They were really excited about helping him with it.)

So here's our new, high-end chicken coop!  My husband is very talented.

For Memorial Day, we had just planned on working on the chicken coop and other projects.  John suggested we do a fire in the evening and roast hot dogs and marshmallows.  It ended up being a magical sort of evening.  (Jonah said it was even better than his birthday.)  Everything is green and lush these days because of all the rain, and it was so pleasant to be outside together.

Last night, after John finished mowing the lawn, he played baseball with the kids, which they loved.  We let them stay up late to see the fireflies.  We had a few marshmallows left, so we did a fire again and stayed out past dusk.  Fireflies are such a fun novelty for us!  It was still early enough that there weren't tons of them.  But it was fun to watch and then call out when you saw one - or more.

And some miscellaneous shots, starting with a few from the ScienceCenter:

Tori at her friend, Josie's, birthday party.   (Nobody here does the home birthday parties we're used to.  They always host them at some public skating or water park places.)