Family Field Trip #1

We decided Saturday was a day to do something together, something educational, something that explored the world around us. We get so wrapped up in the everyday schedule of going to school, going to work, getting to after-school activities, finding something for dinner, doing laundry - all those mundane things - that we forget do to fun things.

So, Mr. Science Teacher Husband took us to Rocky Reach Dam along the Columbia River north of Wenatchee. Rocky Reach Dam has a great museum and hands-on displays for the kids.

The kids induldged me and let me take this photo of them next to a turbine near the picnic center. Apparently this is one of the old turbines that has been replaced with newly designed turbines.

This is the view when standing on the dam, looking south toward Wenatchee.

Tatum really enjoyed the hands-on demonstrations. Here, she is generating power, just enough to get one of three light bulbs to glow.

After a couple hours of exploring the dam, Keeli started demanding "FRENCH FRIES." So, off to lunch we went.

Birthday Girly

Tatum is now 8 years old. When did that happen?


She is nearing the end of 2nd grade. She is excelling in reading and really likes to tackle math problems. She was recently tested for the NOVA program, if chosen she will get additional exposure to math and science curriculum during the school day. Of course her science-teacher-dad thinks this is a great idea, but she doesn't want any more homework.

She talked us into a party at the local bowling alley with her friends. So, we rented two lanes, one for her and her friends and one for Rikard and Keeli.

Before bowling she had a dance performance at a family fun event. She's the really short one second from the right. She loves her clogging!

Dancin' Shoes

Tatum's spring musical program was Friday, April 13. The students performed some great disco songs.

Tatum is just to the right of the center of the photo with her arms in the air. The second graders sang "Dancin' Shoes" and "Dancin' on the Rooftop." One of the older classes sang an arrangement of songs from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s called "Dance Evolution." The principal got up on stage and did The Hustle with the students! It all brought back childhood memories of the roller skating rink for me, especially when they sang "Funkytown." This was great, free entertainment.

Once again, the students had some great themed paintings to decorate the stage behind the classes as they performed. Their focus on disco balls is very interesting.

Babies, Babies & More Babies

We welcomed six new members to herd over the past 24 hours. This brings the total number of new babies this year to 8 as of today and all are cute and healthy!

Reba, a first-time mommy, had twins. A boy...
Isn't he handsome in his black tuxedo? His colorings are exactly opposite those of his daddy's markings.




and a girl...

A miniature version of Reba herself, down to the white markings on her tummy.

Bounce, another first-time mommy, had these cute little jack-n-jill twins. She was keeping them warm in the corner of the hut this morning and had no intention of letting them pose for pretty pictures. They almost look like Easter bunnies with those long, soft ears.



These two are Jill's first babies, again a buck and a doe. They are the spittin' image of their daddy as Jill is dark brown with a black stripe down her back. She is very protective, so we had to take their picture through the fence.

Tatum still hasn't decided on names for these yet. Suggestions are welcome!

Hoppy Easter

After so many years of not knowing if the Easter Bunny really existed or not, we finally caught a glimpse of him early Sunday morning. He was meticulously preparing a challenging egg hunt for the children at the Dragoo home. Shhhh...we don't want to scare him away!

It didn't take long for even the youngest among to catch on to the egg hunt! Then the race was on for the best eggs out there.

The bigger kids really got excited once they realized the eggs were filled with candy, cookies, little toys and money - even the paper kind! That Easter Bunny knows what all kinds of kids enjoy.

The holidays are always a great time to get photos of families reconnecting, loving up the new babies and just enjoying the company of one another.



Connie and Great Grandpa Dick just don't miss a minute of showing off and loving up little Ava.





Grandma Bert took the opportunity to have her picture taken with all her great granddaugthers, Keeli, Ali, Ava and Tatum.


And, of course all the boys had to have some sort of athletic competition. Collin was the champion at tetherball - even though Rick gave it his best shot! Look, that guy really can't jump!

All the boys were tossing around the football, Rikard has a few years yet to perfect his form - thank goodness!

Signs of Spring

We had new babies in the pature just in time for Easter. Our most homely of nannies, named Lucky #7, put two little bucks on the ground Friday afternoon. They are about 30 minutes old in the photo.
The little buck on the far right of the photo has very L-O-N-G ears, that are pink-white like a rabbit. Typically boer ears are brown to black. We're calling him Dumbo. His brother with the brown markings on his hind quarters is named Jumbo, his ears are mostly dark brown.

Rick used one of this afternoons at home during spring break to till my garden space. We're ready to put the pumpkins, tomatoes and pepper plants in the ground once the temperature becomes warm and steady. My patch of chives is thriving in the middle of the garden, but the thyme, cilantro and strawberries didn't winter well.

The hens were taking advantage of the disoriented worms and bugs. We have some work to do on their coup so they don't eat the seeds as we plant them this year.


Of course, we have a few flowers around the house, but not many. Our flower beds were not well-cared for or enhanced the past couple of years as we had planned and installed new windows and a new roof. So, improving our flower beds are a medium level priority this year. This is the extent of the beauty at Easter weekend.

Little Dancing Fool

Tatum's first dance performance of the season was this weekend at the spring fair. The costumes for her group are not yet in, so they wore blue jeans and pink t-shirts with the RBC logo on them.

She's doing much better at multi-tasking (simultaneously smiling and dancing) on stage. And, she still loves to hold a pose! This is her third year of clogging.

She was a bit disappointed at not having a costume, but soon realized how lucky she was to be in jeans. The afternoon was windy, overcast and cool, not very condusive to spandex, sequins and tights.

The group's performance is called "Bounce" and takes about 3 minutes. The music has a KT Tunstall sound to it and is really upbeat. Tatum enjoys it and practices several times a day (without clogs) in the living room.

Shortly after her performance, she was scheduled to work the food booth for her 4-H group. As the youngest volunteer, she worked the front counter taking orders, making change and delivering food. Her leader said she did a fantastic job. They even saved her first order form for us to put in a scrapbook.