The Boyz Are Finally Home!

They visited their father for two weeks.
They spent most of their time camping, fishing, boating, and having lots of fun.
Today they invited friends over, put up the tent, and built a bonfire.
The fun continues!

Update on Robin Rescue

Sadly three robins did not make it. They were fine in the evening, but in the morning only one was alive. He had fallen out of his nest and into a patch of sun, which saved him. My daughter brought him in and began warming him. We picked him up and took him to the "bird lady". He had plenty of energy when we dropped him off. The "bird lady" expects him to survive and be released when he is older.


Robin before going to the "bird lady".


In the wild this little killdeer lives in a pile of grass on the ground but decided to take over the robins nest instead. Cute!


Fluffy killdeer.



Incubator life!



Pet Starling laughs and plays with the boys


The "bird lady" goes to schools to tell kids about wild bird rescue. She let the boyz hold and touch the birds and told them lots of neat info about wild birds.

While we were there "Z" volunteered to come and help out. "Bird lady" said that we could help by fostering recovered birds until she finds permanent homes for them. We decided to foster doves and/or pigeons.

Boyz First Swim in the Pond - 2009

Cute pond huh?


"Z" found tadpoles...of course.


Only in Michigan does one wear boots to go swimming.


Sword...I mean noodle...fight!


Whee! Now you see him...


...now you don't...


Ta Da!!!


Big stick/spear


Tag! You're it!


I love the towels hanging on the tree! Clever.

Up North Adventures: That Crazy Goat!

The beautiful stream I told you about yesterday is directly behind this barn. The naughty goat I am speaking of is the large black and white one standing near the white barrel on the right side of the barn. The skittish little black and white goat is standing in the doorway of the barn.

"B" went to do the morning chores by himself. "Z" and I decided we would come along after we had done the dishes. We had not finished yet when "B" came back to tell us that the two goats had escaped and were trying to butt him.

We all headed down to the barn to attempt to round those little stinkers up. The big one was standing up on the stalls eating the other goats hay…you know the grass is greener on the other side was in action at that moment.

"B" brought down a bale of hay and that goat immediately started eating it. We fed and watered the other goats in their stalls then tried to get her to follow us down to her barn but she just ran around. The other little goat that escaped is very skittish and ran away anytime we came near it.

We went to the other barn to retrieve a leash, went back to the barn where she was (but wasn’t supposed to be), I hooked it around her collar and she happily walked back to her barn with us. Silly goat.

Later in the day when we went out for the evening chores we found her back in the big barn (where she does not belong). Again we fed and watered the animals and she stood up eating the other goats hay, but this time she walked by my side back to her own barn and the skittish one followed a safe distance behind.

It was snowing a bit and we wanted to be sure to totally fill all their water buckets. While we were filling buckets with water to carry down to the big barn, who comes strolling up the driveway? Yep. You guessed it! It was that silly goat! She came right up to us and got all the dogs riled up and barking.

She happily followed us back down to finish watering the animals and we put her back in her barn then went home to fix dinner.

I wonder if we will find her back in the big barn in the morning...or if she stayed in her barn like a good little goat.

I know you are anxious to know what we had for supper. We had turkey burger nachos for dinner and chocolate chip cookie bars for desert. Yum! “Z” raved that these were the best nachos he has ever had. If “Z” likes it then it must be pretty good. You can learn how we made these at The Recipe Box.

Up North Adventures: The Beautiful Stream

The kids have talked about this stream and how beautiful it is. After a bit of frustration from chasing an escaped goat around the yard, getting her settled in her pen only to see her running up to us as we reached the house they suggested we take a break and admire the stream. I am thankful I agreed. It’s beauty is stunning and left us feeling refreshed and ready to carry on with the rest of our chores.

These pictures cannot come close to representing how this stream looks in reality.

This beautiful stream weaves in and out of trees and runs to and fro throughout the property. At this point it is in a bit of a valley and the view from the top of the ravine is stunning. It does not photograph well from there so you will just have to take my word for it.



It also has two islands dividing it in half. You can see the split in the islands behind the boyz in this photo. It is really neat to see the water flow around, meet in the middle and then flow back around it again.

On the far side of the stream is an active spring. There are many springs on this property. This property also has many rocks. The previous owner used those rocks to create mini wells around the many springs. It is pretty neat to see, but they are quite deep so you want to be cautious that you do not fall in. The children are not allowed to play near any of them just to be safe, especially since they are all full of water!

He was also quite smart to install many ditches and drainage pipes to keep the water flowing in the streams and ponds rather than settling wherever it pleases, which keeps this potentially wet and soggy land comfy and dry.