Chickens

Several months ago Darren and I decided we should get some chickens (laying hens). We thought it would be a fun experience for Nate to feed and water them and, of course, gather eggs. Darren did a lot of research on the various types of laying hens and what type environment they should live in. He used a small playhouse that was given to us and turned it into a chicken coop. Then he built a run (pen) to attach to the coop. We went to get the hens today. We got five: two Buff Orpingtons, two Barred Rock, and one Road Island Red. They are 13 weeks old right now and will not begin laying eggs until about 28 weeks.

We put them in a dog crate to get them home. On the way home we discussed possible names for them. I suggested names like Molly and Emily (from Thomas and Friends) and Lucy and Suzy, but Nate didn't like those. Then I started saying silly things like Sprinkles and Cupcake and he liked those. So, we've named them Sprinkles, Cupcake, Cookie, Pumpkin and Brownie. I don't know if we can keep them all straight, but it was fun to give them names.


I have been wanting a fenced in area for Nate to play in outside :)


We were very surprised at how friendly they are. We thought it would take them a while to warm up to us. The family we bought them from has four children that help care for all of the chickens, so I guess they are use to being around people.

Desoto State Park

A couple of weeks ago we went camping at Desoto State Park. This was our last camping trip for this year since it's getting cold. My parents camped with us and we had a great time. The weather was beautiful except for one day of rain.

These pictures were taken at Little River Canyon.

These were taken in the park. There was a huge rock and creek near our campsite. Nate had the best time climbing on the rock and playing in the creek.

His very favorite thing to do was play in the gravel. He LOVED filling his trailers with gravel and then dumping it out and then filling them again.

Walking on the boardwalk

Being silly

Desoto State Park is in Fort Payne, Alabama. These are statues of the members of the band Alabama. They look great, but a little creepy. I also noticed that the chubby guy's (Jeff, I think) statue isn't chubby. Is there a rule against chubby statues?

The day it rained we went to Chattanooga to the Aquarium. Nate enjoyed seeing the fish, but he wanted to see them quickly. He would look at one display for a couple of seconds and then say "Go see more fish." We had a lot of fun and it wasn't crowded, so it was a great day to be there with a 2 year old.

Halloween

We had a great Halloween. Nate had a great time trick-or-treating and eating chocolate candy. This kid LOVES chocolate candy! One of his favorite shows is Dinosaur Train. When we saw this costume, he immediately said "Dinosaur Train"and wanted to carry it around. I don't know if it's actually a dinosaur costume, but he sure thought so.

Carving Pumpkins

We carved pumpkins with Nate for the first time this year. Even though he obviously didn't do any carving, he liked helping and watching the pumpkins transform into "jack-lanterns." He also enjoyed cleaning out the inside of the pumpkins. When we took them out to the porch, his favorite thing to do was blow out the candles. He thought that was a fun game for Darren to light the candles and then he would blow them out.