Another Beach Visit

Last Saturday we checked out another Kansas beach.... This one was Harvey County East Lake. Just East of Newton, Kansas.

It was a further drive, the last 6 miles being down a dirt road. It was fun though. However not even a minute in the water and we see a snake swim buy in between me and the kids.... Later that morning he swam back by and yes sure enough it was a water moccasin.

 

Somebody even did a little sailing... not sure why he ported out in the swimming beach. When he came back to shore he had to dodge a bunch of people... 

Chickens - Photo Timeline at 8 Weeks Old

They have all made it to 8 weeks old :-) Here are their growth photos

Bob and Lila

Bernadette and Anna

Olaf and Elsa

And BeepBeep

They are out for a good part of the morning. We don't feel the need to watch them the entire time now so I'll let them out of their run when I open their coop door and they will peck the south side of the yard for a good while. We'll put them away if we need to leave. But they are good about going back in to rest. Or yesterday Emma ran in saying she couldn't find them anywhere and they had all huddled down under a bush. 

They are all sleeping on their roosts now, they all seven get on the top roost, it's pretty funny listening to them chatter before bed. 

These two were being so funny in the sun the other day, look how their head feathers are all sticking up. 

I'd also been working on a collage timeline and now that it's complete they are ready to share :-) 

Chickens 7 Weeks Old

Finally caught up with the chicken updates. This week they turned seven weeks old. They are finally figuring out how to sleep on the roost. I didn't want to have to interview but I was tired of seeing poor BeepBeep all covered in poop the next morning cuz they were sleeping huddled in a corner and BeepBeep at the bottom. So last week we s tarted going out there after they made their way into the coop and setting each one on the roost. They would hop off but we were at least showing them what to do. Then Tuesday night when we went out there BeepBeep was up on the roost!! Which was great news because she is the alpha hen and usually leads the way. I placed all the others up on top to get the idea but they were all off by the time I got through them all. Closed the door and called it that. Then last night I went out to repeat for number 5 in a row.... only to discover THREE up on the top roost. I shut the door, didn't touch anyone and figure they are getting the idea and the others will figure out soon enough so I don't need to do it for them anymore! WOOHOO. 

Also last Friday we picked up some supplies from the barn store. Got some DE and horse stall refresher. It was getting rather stinky in their run and realized we needed a different solution for the ground covering. We went with coarse sand which I laid out Saturday morning. I also got a big fly trap. The flies have been OUT OF CONTROL. I thought they would eat them but not so much. Well last night I noticed them reaching up into the fly trap and eating them so that is progress! Hopefully they will start and the fly trap has def helped with fly control. We already have about 1,000 dead in the trap.

Setting up for the week 7 photos:

Attempted to take photos of them in the chair, but eventually found it was easier to capture each one in their own element. They did not like standing on the chair...

Still don't really know who are hens and who are roots.... Keep trying to see a difference in saddle feathers, tail feathers.... but not sure. Anna is really the only one that looks different. Maybe he's our only rooster, who knows. But Elsa and Lila's tail feathers look like Anna's, but could end up rounding out or pointy so who knows. Ya don't know til they crow!

Beach Visit

Last Saturday, July 18th we finally made our way out to a beach. It was about a thirty minute drive, cost $8 to get 'in the park'. We found a spot on the beach, when we arrived there was only two other families on our side of the beach, we left just before noon and before it got TOO crowded. 

Funny how in Minnesota when we'd drive thirty minutes to a beach it was a REALLY nice beach and worth the drive... this one not so much. Isaac cut his big toe on a huge rock. There was no bathrooms or parking area. But we got in our beach time and had a good time. Emma was unable to go into the water, we didn't even let her bring her swimsuit. It was her punishment for complaining about going to the beach the previous day. Working on manners and less complaining/whining from her... so if she's going to complain about going to the beach and whine about not going to the Y then she's not going to get to participate in swimming at the beach. 

Kinda emotional getting all our beach gear out and unpacked. First time touching it since we moved and it brought back the flood of memories of me walking the kiddos to our old beach almost weekly. We were so blessed to be so close to the beach. I remember walking there with a huge belly when I was pregnant with Thomas. 

Sunday we went out for lunch at Chicken N Pickle. We had yet to take the kids there. It's a fun place to eat with lots of activities. They actually had BINGO going on while we ate so the kids got to play that. They have pickle ball and lots of bag games around. We ate, the kids played bingo and fuse ball inside. Then outside they had a 'talent show' on the stage with jump ropes and hula hoops. Good times and change up from being stuck at home. Mary is quite the talented hula hooper.