Baby Chicks, Ducks, and the Strawberry Festival

I've been neglecting my blog again. I'm good at that. We've been pretty busy lately with our new additions to the family 'farm', a visit from Aunt Megan, a trip to the Strawberry Festival and, to round off our busy week, the Gregson Family Easter Egg Hunt(but I'm a dummy and forgot my camera for that one).

Here are the new baby ducks. They were a surprise. I was expecting only chickens but I'm glad Ian bought the ducks too, because I've wanted ducks way before I wanted chickens.

They are just too cute for words! The two golden ones are Khaki Campbells. The one in the middle is a Mallard. And the one in the bottom right corner is a Black East India(we think). The guy at the supply store called it a Black Duck. They are fun to watch.

Here are some of the chicks and ducks in their 'play pen'. We have two different breeds of chicks. The ones with the white spots on their heads are called Plymouth Rocks or Barred Rocks. They'll be black and white when they are fully grown. The ones without the spots are called Australorps. They'll be all black(I think). They're supposed to be good egg layers.

Here is Aunt Megan helping Zack hold the baby Mallard. The kids call him Jr. Let's hope Jr. doesn't turn out to be a girl. On the other hand, maybe we should hope it turns out to be a girl so we can pick a different name. So far, all of the ducks have boy names---the Khaki's are Bolt and Rocket and the Black duck is called Rip. Go figure. I'm thinking we'll probably have to come up with new names for a couple of them. ;o)

This is one of the baby Australorps. This one was following Matt as he walked around the pen.

Matt really likes watching them. He and Lauren are the animal lovers out of the 4 kiddos.

Sadly we've lost one chick and one duck since we got them last Thursday. We replaced the baby duck but I decided to wait to replace the baby chick just in case any more died. So far so good. They're all doing great.


Next up---The Strawberry Festival

The festival had rides for the kiddies, lots of craft venders, good food, entertainment, and stawberries.

The main attraction for the boys was the bumper cars. As soon as they saw them, that's all they talked about. They each had their own money to spend(from helping maw maw in the garden) and this is what they wanted to do with it. Matt also road a dragon roller coaster. He said it was a little scary at first but then it was fun. :o)

Zack---I fear the day this child gets his license. I don't think I'll be giving him the keys to my car. ;o)

Todd---Maybe I should be more afraid of this one getting his license. It's only a short 6 years away (5 if you count the permit). YIKES!

Matt---He'll be the one to buy an old junker and fix it up.

Lauren and Ian on the carousel. She liked it at first but then changed her mind and dad had to hold her the rest of the ride.

I know this isn't a great shot, not even a good shot, but I love the Azalea Trail Maids. I had to have a picture even though I was too far away to bolt across the festival to get a better picture.

I really hate that I forgot to take my camera to the egg hunt. I don't even think I have a picture of Lauren in her Easter dress. Oh, well. We all know I'm crazy and scatter-brained. I'll let Megan do the Easter post.