Fish tales

Opening weekend of fishing season had its ups and downs - not necessarily on the waves. The season opened on most local lakes Saturday, but the weather did not cooperate. Sunday we had blue skies, calm waters an eager crew.Most of our crew were rookies. There were several nibbles on the lines which they didn't realized, but they learned quickly from their missed opportunities.Finally, Bailey got the first (and only) serious bite of the day. He was busy yelling "fish on" and trying to reel his line in with the rod still in the holder, ignoring Capt. Rick's instructions. Bailey reminds me so much of my brother at that age! You know, the age when excitement rules and rules only interfere with experiencing the excitement.

Bailey really didn't want to touch the fish. It took several minutes for him to get a grip on the fish without it squirting out from his hands and landing in the lawn.

Rikard on the other hand never misses an opportunity to show off a catch - even if it isn't his!

And, we introduced Stubby to the boating life. She took to the water well and even tried to jump overboard a couple times to catch nearby geese, ducks or loons. Stubby's a natural, amidst the chaos of Rick setting three kids up to fish and me learning the operate the new electric motor, she managed to eat an old-fashioned donut (traditional fishing food for this family) and drink the remains of my coffee.

Spring = Babies

This birds are twittering, the bees are buzzing and the goats are increasing the size of the herd. Spring has sprung.

As of this week we have six new baby goats and we are waiting on one more nanny to kid. The latest addition to the herd is a little buck born this morning. He was already trying to stand and nurse within minutes of birth, so we gave them some privacy to get to know one another.

We raise goats for consumption, they are meat goats. We try to keep the herd high-percentage Boer and most of the goats have standard coloring, meaning white bodies are light to dark brown markings on their head and maybe lower legs. This makes for a lot of chubby white bodied goats running around the pasture. So when we get some color it adds a bit of interest to our day. This little girl's markings are not standard, but I think she's very interesting to look at, almost like a yin-yang symbol on legs. She is very friendly and very tame already.

Big Mamma is usually the best and most prolific nanny in the herd. Despite her coloring, she is also a Boer. This spring she looked like she was carrying three or four kids, but apparently she's just big boned. She blessed us with a single doe.

These are two of our three bummer kids this year. We have to bottle feed them 4-6 times a day and they are getting used to nibbling the dandelions and grass shoots. The kids have named the white and brown doe Star. The black and white buck is Buddy. His twin is also a buck, cinnamon in color with white ears, named Ranger. Ranger is learning to bottle feed this weekend as his momma went to the sales yard.

Which way to do we go?

It is much better when the weekend presents a challenge, don't you think? Last weekend was Rikard's monthly Cub Scout Pack event. We hit the road for Finch Arboretum for an orienteering event.

Rick and Rikard got a quick tutorial on using a map and compass to find way or control points. The event was sponsored by the Eastern Washington Orienteering Club. They provided timers, compasses, maps and developed the course. It took us a few tries, but finally the boys had us on the right track.

For many in our little group, as soon as a direction was determined the race was on to find the next marker. Rikard held the map and compass, Tatum stamped the card at each control point and Keeli usually just ran and ran and ran with the dog. She did read us the numbers of the control points once she arrived, just so we knew we were at the right one.

Tatum was sidetracked more than once along the way. She needed to know out how old the trees were before they were cut down and stopped multiple times to read the educational tree markers and donation plaques along the paths.

Sometimes we saw our friends along the way, following another course. Hi Francine and David!

By the end of the morning and with the experience of two beginner courses under his belt, Rikard was fairly adept at determining the direction to follow to find the next control point.

Tatum turns 11

Tatum turns 11 today, April 10.

Rick had a single responsibility during my pregancy - to find the perfect name. Tatum is on Old English name that means "cheerful" and "bringer of joy." She is definitely cheerful and brings joy to our lives everyday. I think he did an excellent job!

She is growing up quickly. It seems just yesterday she was learning to walk, learning to talk.

Today she is doing long division and enjoys reading historical fiction and mystery novels. She also likes to embroider and crochet. I must more make time to spend with her and her little sewing machine.

Nerd Day

The school has spirit week activities the first week back from spring break. It has been a welcome distraction as the weather has been cold, wet and windy. Not much outside fun.

Today is Nerd Day in Rikard's classroom. His pocket has a calculator, some math flashcards, pencils (Ticonderoga #2 of course), a mechanical drafting pencil and some graph-lined index cards. We couldn't find a pocket protector! We did add a ring of keys, complete with a kid-sized tape measure, to his beltloops and a black comb to his back pocket after the photo was taken.

Wordless Wednesday

Spring break antics

We hit Cat Tales for the free kids Sunday. I think all those with free admission had a great time!

This little 750 lbs. guy was hands-down everyone's favorite.
Then, Bailey came to spend a couple days with us. He celebrated his birthday with a trip to the video game store with Uncle Rick and then a trip to the mall with Nana - for MORE video games.

Spring break is nearly over. Rick and Rikard squeezed in a day of fishing and brought home two beautiful trout that we ate for dinner. Three more days until we have to return to the routine.