Schumans and other friends

We had a great visit last week from the fantastic Schumans, among our dearest and oldest friends. They came for 1 1/2 days during both of our spring breaks, and we had a great and low-key time. We made pizza. Andrew learned he likes chickens and enjoys holding them (for more information about the sad fate that happened to this hen the following week, go here):

We flew kites on (seemingly) the windiest day of the year:

Then girls made jewelry out of beach shells and beads, and the boys fashioned weapons out of sticks using hot glue guns (in some cases). They then held a creative- and lucrative- sale:

The Schumans (sadly) had to leave, but we do have another friend. Pedro the peacock from up the road keeps coming down to hang out:

We also got four more sheep, a mother ewe (Agnes) and her three nursing lambs, two weeks old:

Speaking of babies: the youngest two and I went up to DC to visit sweet baby Charlie Weld on Monday, just 7 weeks old. What a dream! So much fun

Events and Easter

Monkey is on a soccer team this spring, the "Giants." So far so good:

The two oldest rocked their science fair presentations on Thursday; tons of hard work put in on the experiments, the boards, and the oral reports. The judges were impressed! So proud.

We went to DC yesterday, the crew and I. No trouble getting in and we parked right on the mall in a free, 3-hr space (then instantly found another, 3 spaces down, when the first 3-hour slot was up). Amazing. The mall merry-go-round was a big hit:

We had some time to wait to meet up with our friends the Schumans, and we spent a lot of it running up and down the steps of the National Gallery of Art, Rocky style, and timing ourselves:

Great time on the mall with the Schumans and their crew, including picnic, soccer and red-light/green-light, Air & Space Museum, and ice cream.

The dads were off on a surprise 40th birthday hiking venture with a bunch of other men in the Shenandoah Valley (not pictured here. But good times!)

Easter today was fun! The Johnsons came up from Richmond to share Easter dinner with us, and play, and do a farm egg hunt. Gorgeous day! Gorgeous kids--

We are blessed! And He is risen!

Tribute to Angus

Angus. On Sunday we lost This Dog.

How do you sum up the life of one who has meant so much to you? To HF, his true owner, who chose him and groomed him and made him - in some ways - who he was? To four small children who knew him and loved him before he could speak? Whom he let climb all over him and lead him around on a leash and dress him up in hats and capes?

There was never a dog like Angus, a dickens of a dog who was loving and loyal as the day is long… and yet had an unparalleled knack for mischief and for knowing how to exert maximal annoyance with minimal effort (when he wanted to. Especially for his mom). And to injure himself and become unwell, occasionally, in the most expensive ways possible. The torn ACL. The ripped meniscus. The mouse-poison ingestion. The gorge-on-chicken-feed-mold episode. The ear infection leading to surgery.

The dog could eat any other living animal under the table, especially when it was prized baked goods made by his parents for other purposes. He could find ways to drag any type of food from the pantry - cans and all - into his run and get into it, even canned foods. He had a particular love for ingesting dirty socks and crayons.

Angus was an amazing hunter and bird dog; his pointing skills were renowned. He could never let a thrown bumper pass him up for swimming, and would jump in to retrieve it till he was so tired he could barely walk. He loved to run the bag fields and chase chickens. He loved to charge the front door to 'welcome' any guest coming in.

Most loyal friend for 11+ years, his passing shocked us and rocked our family. The hole Angus leaves in our hearts is deep beyond the telling, and we will always miss him.

Firehouse, Alabama and infants, science fair, peacocks

Goose had a field trip to the fire station! Siblings came too (her best friend Abby has twin brothers)

Roo and I went down to AL for four days to help Aunt Katie & co with adorable new baby Charlotte while Uncle Mac was out of town. So fun! And great bonding time for Roo and me to be off together on a venture like this. Rest of the family went to CT to hang with Nona, Grandpa, and the crew up there.

My dear friend Christie from CA moved to AL (her home state) with her family of 7 two months ago to become full-time farmers. I took Roo and her two oldest cousins to visit them at their new site for the day. So very fun and refreshing to be with them.

April is science fair month for the two big kids. Monkey is doing "which kind of wood burns the fastest?" and Roo is doing "what liquid cleans pennies the best?" Here we see the wood-burning-experiment (round 3):

Our neighbors have a peacock, and he's been frequenting our yard. Here he is on our (theoretically) screened-in-porched off our bedroom. Hilarious:

In mom news… I ran a 15K race this weekend! My farthest distance in 10 years. Made good time (for me) too; I was very pleased.