My little hikers

We have been "hiking" a lot more with the boys lately which has been a lot of fun for all of us. We often don't make it very far, but that's fine with me because I can't make it very far right now either! I am 30 weeks pregnant and beginning to waddle!

the chicks are here!

We are very excited to be raising baby chicks! There was a lot to learn about different breeds, how to take care of the chicks, what to feed them--grow our own food, buy it locally, buy a premixed feed?--, what kind of coop to build, will Guinness hunt them?, etc. It's been a lot of fun learning about it all. We ended up picking out 8 chicks: 2 white orpingtons, 2 ameracaunas, 1 buff silkie, 1 cochin, 1 jersey giant (couldn't pass up a breed created in jersey), and 1 light brahma. They are all very winter hardy breeds and decent layers, plus easy going and gentle. I wish I could say that Liam and Patrick were the same with them! Unfortunately we did lose one to a little rough handling which we were all very sad about. Liam and Patrick had built the chick a nest in a flower pot, but the chick just wouldn't stay in it so they decided to put a rock on top of her so she would stay there. Lessons learned all around.

There is so much much great information on the web about raising chickens, but my favorite is www.backyardchicken.com.

End of Winter

I know this is a bit late, but wanted to add some photos of our trip to Winter Park. We stayed at our friend Ruth's beautiful home at the end of April and had a lot of fun cross country skiing.

New beds!

We have purchased new beds for the boys from Lifekind which is a company I highly recommend. They have great non-toxic organic mattress and fantastic customer service. We also purchase our bedding from them and it's super soft and comfortable. Anyhow, the boys were so excited to get their new beds as you can see from the photos. However, the excitement didn't last long and now Papa sleeps in one of the new beds while the boys and I are in the King. We have the mattresses all pushed up together in our room, essentially 2 kings together so it really is a bedroom! Anyhow, we are working on a plan for when the baby comes because the boys are very reluctant to give up their spots on either side of me. Maybe the baby can just sleep on top of me. Sounds cozy and lovely right now.

Our first post!

I am really excited to begin this blog because I think it will be a great way for family and friends to stay to connected with our family. We have made such wonderful friends in so many places and are currently far away from family, so I am hoping this will be a good way to stay in touch. I also want to keep a record of our wonderful adventures.