We Bought a Farm

Nah, we really didn't buy a farm, but it seems like we live on one!  Our baby chickens hatched the Saturday of Mother's Day weekend.  They made Olivia a mom after all!  At 6:00 am Saturday morning, we woke to "Mommy, Daddy!  Our chickens are hatching!"  Sure enough, as we stumbled downstairs, two chicks had hatched and another was on his way.  As the day progressed, we had ten chicks hatched.  One tried, but lost the fight as he pecked his way out and another didn't open up at all.  All in all, we had ten happy, healthy baby chicks and many happy kids in our house and others who came to visit the newborns.

On Mother's Day, the kids and Dave delivered breakfast in bed (so sweet) and in turn, took off for a 3 hour drive to his mom's house in upstate New York.  I stayed home to relish some down time and move the dried chicks one by one from the incubator to the brooding box.  Kobe was with me every step of the way.  He was very interested in these new little beings in our household.  As the days progressed, these little things became a bit more vocal and ate non stop!  I couldn't keep food or water in their brooding box fast enough.  They grew exponentially over the seven days we kept them.  It was quite sweet to come home to chirps, but it was also quite gross to clean the incubator out as well.  I almost lost my lunch three times during the clean.  That's one of the many reasons I do not own a farm!  I have experience (from childhood friends) and that will suffice, thank you.

All in all, it was an incredible learning experience for all of us.  Thank you to Abna's Farm for allowing us this opportunity and for taking those eating, pooping, chirping fluff balls off of our hands.  I, of course, had to ask, and yes, they will be used for laying eggs going forward....unless, they are needed for other purposes....so is the circle of life.
What's for dinner?

 

NYC Theater and weekend fun

One of the things we love about Wyckoff is the pond in walking distance from our house.  When the weather was nice in April, the kids started fishing Zabriskie Pond.  Olivia and Dave went one weekend morning while Zach was at a birthday party, which resulted in six fish.  All of which were catch and release.  Zach was part of the return trip that evening and Kobe was privileged to go on both trips.  Oh, how Kobe loves to stalk the geese!  I love this picture of my fishermen/women.

Zach also spent many afternoons outside making and remaking chalk tracks for his plasma car.  He raced in the morning, all afternoon after school and wee into the night.  We had to watch him out the window as he raced in his pajamas.  He's dedicated to say the least.

Olivia, on the other hand, spends plenty of time in this tree in the front yard.  Blankets, broom sticks, umbrellas, snacks, they all make their way outside to her mini-tree house.  She had a couple of friends over playing this particular day.  I think they were impressed with her imagination.

Another thing we were excited about by living so close to NYC was the ability to see plenty of Broadway shows.  Until a few weeks ago, we hadn't enjoyed that part of NYC to it's full extent.  Suddenly, we saw The Book of Mormon and One Man, Two Guvnors (the latter being nominated for multiple Tony awards) in two weeks.  Two Guvnors is a hilarious British play.  I thought they were going to ask me to leave, I was laughing so hard.  The Book of Mormon is one of the hot tickets in town, so when we arrived to seats five rows back from the stage, I was in awe.  Both were great evenings in the city with Dave and I hopeful that we will be able to see many more!  Here's to Broadway and all the great things it holds.  More please, more please, MORE!

Zach's class followed eggs being incubated at school.  For some reason, Olivia grade did not get to take part in the chick project.  So, after much begging and research, we found that Abna's Farm down the road  had incubators.  So, an incubator, 12 fertilized eggs and a packet of instructions later, we started 'growing' chickens.  Everyone has stopped in to check on them and we are looking for a high success rate on hatching.  Cross your fingers.  Yes, we will give the chicks back to the farms a few days after hatching.  I'm all for organic, but we're not set up for chicken farming just yet.  

On our way to look for chickens, we stopped by Goffle Farms (yes, lots of farms in the area).  You may not want to read this, so beware or skip:  Goffle sells fresh chicken meat, whole chickens, rabbit, and any other odd meat.  After we petted the bunnies above, one went into the shop and was delivered in a bag across the counter on our way out (to other people).  Directions on cooling the meat and how to prepare it for dinner.  The couple said, "mmm, rabbit for Sunday night."  Gross.

Olivia proudly displays her eggs.

21 days incubation

Misc. photos:  Dave was given a really cool cookie designed Jaguar, and Zach enjoyed every last bit of it.

Zach won his 1st grade class spelling bee!  He was part of the school's spelling bee.  Lucky 1st graders got words that 5th graders were given as well.  It got harder as the Bee went along.  Ambush was a word Zach stumbled on.  More so because he was worried about the 'time limit'.  They told the kids they only had 30 seconds, so he would spout out his answers quickly.  He knew the word.  Oh well.  His word for his class bee earlier was "Incubator".  Kind of tough for 1st Grader, but they were all champs!  Way to go!

Olivia told me Mark likes her, so of course, he is sitting next to her:-)  She pointed to him and gave me the Justin Beiber heart shape with her hands to let me know who he was.  Sweet.  As I type this, another one, Jack, just today make sure to directly hand Olivia an invitation to his birthday party.  He is not in her class, but sits with her at the Nut Free table at lunch.  He was so cute to and shy went her gave her the invite.  I'll make sure she goes:-)

Olivia was upset after Zach got a new bike for his birthday, that he bike was a 'baby bike'.  Barbie used to be cool....but Barbie is SO two weeks ago.  She was so adamant about it, she used her money to buy herself a bike!  Impressive, Olivia.  She's also learning how credit cards work...meaning she has to pay Daddy back because it was charged to his credit card (it was an online purchase).

Let the Games Begin!!  Not the Hunger Games....Baseball in Wyckoff!  It has been rather chilly and rainy since baseball began two weeks ago, so we are 50/50 on games being cancelled.  Last Saturday's game was really good.  The boys are actually figuring it out and making it an enjoyable game to watch!  

Good game, boys!  

We've been holding down the fort since Dave left for a 9 day trip to Germany (driving the Nurbergring with the new Jaguar) and England.  I'll sum up what Dave has missed in early May....rain, overcast skies and more gray than anyone wants.  It's New Jersey, not Seattle.

This past weekend, after baseball and tennis for Zach, we hung out with our friends on Sunday.  The sun actually broke through!  The girls went to Greenwich, Connecticut to shop (middle school graduation for the twins, so they need dresses).  Andy took Zach and Tom to the driving range, which they all love (so do I) and out to eat at Brady's.  Not bad for a Sunday.  So happy to have them around:-)