finally!

A month ago we recruited some friends to come help move the coop into place.  I only had a few more things left to do, like building and hanging doors and painting the inside, but then we went away for two weeks, and when we got home it rained for a whole week!

This week I was finally able to get outside and finish up the coop...

I still need to build the run and put rungs on the ramp, but the coop is finally livable!

This is the best the inside of this coop is ever gonna look :)

All ready for the chicks!

Today was the day...

What is in those boxes?

Our chicks!  We got three tiny chicks, less than a week old. One Golden Comet, one Barred Rock, and one Rhode Island Red...

And 3 bigger chicks. Two Americanas,

and one Buff Orpington.

The kids can not stay away!  any excuse to go check on the chickens :)

old friends

Spent the day at the park catching up with some good friends. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a blast playing while us mom's chatted and soaked up the warm sun.

These two have been friends since they were babies and despite living 200 miles away from each other for the past 10 years, they still keep in touch.  I try and remember to get a picture of them each time we come and visit... so fun to see how they have grown on the years :)

national zoo

My mom and I took the kids to the zoo today.  Did you know that the National Zoo is 125 years old?  And did you know that the original Smokey Bear lived there in the 1950's? 

I think this guy slept most of the day... can you believe how big he is getting?

Kai wasn't the only one sleeping away the hot afternoon.  This is Mei Xiang (may-SHONG), the adult female Panda.  Mei Xiang and Tian Tian (t-YEN t-YEN) had their second (surviving) baby last Summer. There was a crowd around the baby, Bao Bao, so no pictures of her.

Every animal statue is another photo op...

I totally love Tallulah's face in this one :)

We were bummed that the zoo no longer has giraffes and hippo's but everybody had a good time and we ended the outing with Italian ice from Rita's... it doesn't get much better than that!

road trip

Regan finished Challenge A last Thursday so this morning the kids and I loaded up the van for a little road trip.  We are spending a few days in Maryland visiting family.

while we were setting up the beds for the kids tonight Emmy said she wanted to sleep in the cradle...

and then Addie decided she wanted in too :)

These two crack me up!

almost there

My in-laws came to visit over the weekend and we put them to work on the coop!  The weather was beautiful and in between soccer games, gymnastics, and church events my father-in-law taught me how to install a roof.

While the adults worked on the coop the kids set up camp in the back yard...

Micah needed to make his own lean-to and sleep in it to earn his camping badge with Trail Life.

We've got so many caterpillars in our yard I was afraid Micah might wake up in a cocoon in the morning, but he made it through the night unscathed :)

Addie, Tallulah, Max, and Regan all slept in the tent.

I was a little intimidated by the nail gun at first but it really wasn't hard to use at all.

Looks done from this side :)

But I still need to make the doors and put the trim on.

And then it's on to the run!

Thank to my in-laws, who I am sure would have much rather just come and have a restful visit but instead willingly jumped in with the coop construction!  Who know how long putting the roof on would have taken with our their expertise and tools!

more chicken coop picture

Still lots of work to do, but it's coming along :)

coop progress

We finished framing the coop and built the nesting boxes this week.   Although a lot of the work I need to do myself the kids are all helping whenever they can. 

The kids said they were going to put the coop in the front yard and sell hot dogs out of it if owning chickens didn't work out for us :)

I got pretty frustrated trying to cut the pieces for the nesting box with only a circular saw, but I finally figured it out and even though it is far from perfect I am feeling pretty good about what we've accomplished so far. 

This is the first time I've ever built anything like this and sometimes the task seems a bit overwhelming but it is so rewarding to push through my doubts and insecurities.  I am really enjoying the whole process!

Next up, roof trusses!