The Bunch Celebrate the 4th and Enjoy VBS

We have had so much stuff going on that I have not had time to update this in over two weeks!

First off, the horse and donkey are doing well. Almost everyday, we wake up early, go out and groom and walk the horse. We would LOVE to groom and walk the donkey too, but she will not let us anywhere near her with a halter. No halter in hand, you have to push her out of your way. Go get the halter, you are not coming with in 10 ft of her. It is really frustrating because she would greatly benefit from a hoof cleaning and some fly spray. They both appear to be getting plenty to eat if the two (yes, TWO) wheelbarrows full of poop every 3 days means anything. It takes an hour and a half to pick up their poop and about an hour to groom and exercise them. Basically, that is about 8-10 hours a week of extra chores. If we can't ride her in the next 6 months then I am thinking it might not be worth it! As long as we can be gone a couple of days at a time every so often, I think it will work out ok.

Storm approaching and the horses actually used the shed we slaved over!

We have had horrible problems with snakes lately. We found the one super enormous bull snake that my neighbor took to his house. D had one fall on him from the front door (he still checks everything out BEFORE he will even open the door), one little one that lives on the front porch under the bench, and another one D had to kill because it climbed the wall, got into my birdhouse and devoured the babies. We were going to just let it go because we thought it was the little one from the front porch, but as it started striking at D from inside the birdhouse we realized it was pretty big and D didn't take too kindly to it trying to attack him. So far (as I am knocking on wood) all our snakes have been of the non poisonous variety, but we are very aware that they could easily be copperheads or rattlers.

Our "snakes" hiding spot on the front porch. Be careful if you sit down.

Our snake "hanging" out.

The girls have been very busy. They volunteered for a sports camp that our church sponsors every summer. They both ended up with kindergarten lines, which after one week even made L say she never wanted kids, which for L to say was really a statement since she has always been baby crazy. A helped teach volleyball and L helped teach soccer. They had to be at church by 8am every morning and left at 4pm each day. They were exhausted after each day. I told them this was preparing them for work in the real world. L asked if they were going to be "child wranglers". Even with as many hours as they put in for volunteering, they still had volleyball practice and games. Needless to say they were ready for this week to be over. It was really long and they worked really hard.

The craziness of sports camp.

That is A in the middle trying to wrangle her line.

T was able to attend the camp as a participant so while his day was long also, he was there just to have fun and participate in the camp. In addition to attending his sisters practices and games, we also had T's basketball practice and games. Basically, my kids were only home to sleep for an entire week, which gave D and I a glimpse into our retired life in a few years and it was quiet. We just did our chores and errands together and enjoyed the calmness. I think life after kids won't be too big of an adjustment. It seems like I am jumping the gun a bit on that, but my youngest child graduates in 6 short years and then empty nest here we come! We all know how fast time flies by so whether we are ready or not it will be here before I know it.

He had a blast.

His last year to be able to participate in VBS.

VBS Carnival with FREE food trucks

T and L race to pop their balloon first. T won.

This year we went to our small town's marina for the firework show. It was really fun and we lucked out by getting one of the best parking spots. We managed to fit all 5 of us, 5 camping chairs, and an outdoor rug into my husband's mirage. I am sure we looked like the clown car as we unloaded, but for such a tiny 3 cylinder car, it is surprisingly roomy and at about 40 miles per gal, I love it. It was really easy to get in, but leaving took awhile since everyone was leaving at the same time and there was only one way in and one way out.