"Let's hear it for the kids from Maine!"

Nashville is the only town that I know of where they play in the bars all day, as well as all night long.  At first the kiddos were shy and couldn't believe that we were going to let them go into this adult world, but then they were thrilled!  This performer, Duncan Houston, started teasing them about being in the bars instead of in school as soon as they walked through the door.  The girls played along and explained that they are on vacation.  He played their song requests, and finally he got them to get up on stage with him where he autographed their CDs!  They'll never forget him.

Embracing Nashville

All of the kiddos are thoroughly enjoying this trip, but perhaps none so much as our youngest son.  When I gave him the opportunity (even though climbing on the fence at Fort Negley Park is technically against the rules) to embrace the 'Bat Building', he jumped up there really quickly!

"The best part of waking up..."

This morning we woke up in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania!  And my husband sang me that old Folger's coffee jingle as he handed me my cup.  It's gonna be a great day!

Now they're singing, "On the Road Again..."

Who taught them that?!

Tonight's the night!

Guess how many days left until we leave on our road trip?  ZERO!!!!

And we're off!  Everyone's looking a little bit sleepy because it's just after midnight...

Pretty Bird

Just like a pirate walks around with a parrot on her shoulder, she has taught her little Silkie hen to ride around on hers!

Happy Easter and Happy Birthday too!

Today we have two reasons to celebrate, Easter and our oldest daughter's birthday, a little bit early.  We'll be traveling on her actual birthday, so today we are having her party here at home.

The birthday girl is working hard on her cake.  She chose to make a coconut cake which she is decorating with frosting and gumdrops.  It should be really yummy and sweet!

So much color!

Tomorrow is Easter, so tonight they have been busily decorating eggs.  It's so hard to pick a favorite because they are all so pretty!

Field Trip

Today he got to ride on the Lobster Bus! His class took a trip to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. He spent an awesome day learning all about the lives of lobsters.

Good-bye Scrappy

One of my favorite breeds of chicken is the Bantam Sumatra. The roosters' overly long, black (but luminescent) feathers gleam with all the colors of the rainbow as they wander around the yard. My rooster, Scrappy, was the oldest chicken in the yard. I've lost count of how many years that I have enjoyed his company. Today he passed away. He had survived so many different things over the years that I had kinda hoped he would live forever. A special thanks to my husband for taking care of him before I got home. I'm not sure I could have handled it. I'm not ashamed to admit that I had many conversations with this old bird. He was a great addition to my farm. Happy trails, ol' man. You were a beautiful boy, and we (Your family & all your 'girls'!) will miss you.

Sun-dog

I was hurrying home this evening, but I just had to stop and capture this beautiful sun dog! I'm so glad that I did, because it was gone in the blink of an eye...

My Partner in Fitness

I started jogging last week, and today she decided to join me. We had fun running through the muddy woods this morning! The mud was over our ankles in places and even sucked our sneakers off of our feet a couple of times - eeek!!

This evening we started a new challenge, to go along with our running. These exercises are tougher than they look! Her goal is to get as fit as she was last summer when she was competing in Track, which she's not doing this year. My goal is to get fit enough to ride Lily again without pain. It's not as much fun doing something you love, if you hurt so much afterwards. I'm hoping that having more muscles to support my back when riding, will keep the discs from herniating again. Fingers crossed...