We made it!!

Yes, we made it back. We had fun camping on our last night on the road, although it was a really chilly night. I think Mark was hoping for a really cool road trip, but by that time, I think we were all ready to get home (I know I was).

We didn't let the kids write on our horribly dirty van until we got home, but after 5,500 miles, the mud was caked on so well, you could hardly tell it's color. The kids we able to create quite a masterpiece.

The kids were so anxious to get out of the car they practically hopped out the windows (if only those van windows rolled down...they wouldn't have banged their heads so many times!...OK, people, I'm just kidding...). After taking a few minutes to get our "sea" legs working, they were off and running. It is nice to be home. Dorothy had it right...

It didn't take long to get the farm into full swing. With the great spring weather, out came the go-cart and lawn mower. I'm not sure what's with kids and their need to drive powered things, but I remember loving to drive the lawn mower around my brother's yard when I was their age (ok, maybe a little older...oh, alright, I still like it and have to fight the kids for it).

We are still awaiting our baby goats. I'm pretty sure that the one doe that was due now is NOT due. It's a shame you have to wait 5 months to find out. Too bad there isn't a home pregnancy test for those animals. I'm hoping that at least one of the other two is pregnant, but I'm not going to hold my breath. I'm wondering if our stud was a dud...

In spite of no goat additions this month, we did add 50 baby chicks to our brood. We got them the new fangled way... through the mail. I mean, really, who has time to let their hens sit on eggs anyhow. Actually, most of the birds who are bred to be good egg layers are also bred NOT to be broody (that means: to want to sit on a nest and hatch eggs), thus the Post Office route.

The fuzzy little things are just soooo stinkin' cute. The kids love holding them... all except Grace. She's freaked out at their "scratchy" toenails. You'd think they were fatally wounding her with the fuss she put up.... so she wrapped them in her papoose and then everything was fine.

Nathan's first experience with the chicks went well. No major damage, although I think he got their eyes confused with little balls, and concerned himself with trying to pluck them out. No worries though, they all still have their eyes (and other body parts).

Along with our chicks, we added about 5 mice to our collection of animals (they are only temporary, of course). Daddy found a momma mouse and 4 nursing babies nesting in our grill. He thought it was cool, so he invited all the kids over to look. After everyone was done gawking and saying how sweet baby mice looked, the momma mouse made a bee-line for the exit. She worked her way into the bottom of the grill with some of her babies. We tried to shoo her into a tupperware container, but we couldn't find her... that is, until Paul lit the grill. She ran down the leg of the grill and under the porch. Paul couldn't exactly smash her with a shovel with all of the kids watching. That would be gross! And, what do you do when you have helpless baby mice trapped in your grill? Well, we turned it off, of course, and waited. She ran back up to her babies and to our surprise, started carrying them down the grill and under the porch one by one. We got the nest into the tupperware thingy when it still had a couple babies in it, and we had the bright idea to put the lid on when she tried to get the last ones out of it. I guess we underestimated the speed and agility of a mother mouse on her quest to save her babies. We missed her...both times. Oh, believe me, we WILL meet again... probably in my pantry mousetrap. I only hope it's before this one eats a gaping hole in my new "warehouse-sized" bag of brown sugar! Grrrrrrrrr.