A Goose Egg

Breakfast this morning

The morning started with a grand plan to visit the zoo, The Alamo,  AND The Riverwalk.  We all jumped out of bed, except for me, I rolled out of bed at 7:30am.  We hurried around the kitchen feeding the children breakfast.  We settled on a delicious variety of fajita, potato and egg tacos,  vanilla custard cake with fruit on top, and key lime pie.  We wanted to make sure they had variety and we payed special attention to the health factor.  I think this breakfast scores a ten on the nutritional scale!

With sunscreen applied and all of us in our Stricker Family Farm shirts(compliments of my personal designer and friend, Suz), we drove to the zoo.  All smiles we rented a stroller and roamed to our first exhibit, the flamingos.  The bears were next, but not without event.  Suz's youngest child began to frantically rub her eyes causing redness and swelling.  Very shortly after the initial frantic rubbing, the poor child was in terrible agony and grabbing her mom's skirt trying the rub her eyeballs out!!  Like any good mom, she purchases minimelts(Dippin' Dots copycat) to calm her child.  She rushes through the ice cream deliciousness and wants more so she says expresses her good attitude would make a comeback upon the consumption of another "Dippin' Dots."  By the time we arrive at the Lory Landing, we've decided there is nothing more at the zoo we want or need to see and the number of minimelt machines placed throughout the zoo are making it hard to explain to the four-year-old that she is NOT getting another one.

The butterfly house at the zoo

We pile back in the car and drive to lunch.  Everyone is happy and full after lunch, but not too full.  We visit Freddy's from some ice cream before returning to the house.  Notice, the Alamo and Riverwalk are NOT in the remaining itinerary.  The four-year old did ask when we were going to see "Elmo?"  Elmo or Alamo, either way, it was no longer on the agenda!  Once home the kids jumped in the pond for a swim.  I sneak away to tend to the bees and am attacked by a swarm of hungry and angry bees.  I was trying to remove their feeder and add more comb, but they thought I was trying to destroy their hive.  I wore my hot, white bee suit, but once I got back to the house I removed twelve stingers from the suit and my gloves.  Whew!  Glad I was dressed in full garb!  Sadly, my dog came to see what I was doing and was stung at least six times from what I could tell.  I tried not to help her as I still had angry bees swarming around me.  She ran away quickly and was able to escape the bees.

Can you find the goose egg?

Dinner is without event so we decide to test our luck at the snow cone spot in town.  We all order our flavors and head to the river to enjoy the water and the ducks and geese.  The kids find a duck with a hook in its foot and another with string wrapped around its foot.  I try to capture and help the animals, without much luck.  Brett tried to convince me to jump in after the duck.  Yeah, uh, I'm not exactly a swimmer of duck caliber.  As we try to corral the kids and keep Chloe from bringing home an entire goose worth of feathers for a headdress, they convince me to bring home a goose egg to incubate.  Even Thadd thought it was a good idea.

Tiny chick

Earlier in the day we were waiting for the baby chick to hatch that pipped last night.  It was slowly making its way out of the shell.  At one point it must've rolled its beak in the water that sits below the screen to keep the humidity high in the incubator.  The girls went in to check the chick progress and came running out to report their finding.  I quickly ripped the baby chick out of its shell, began chest compressions and a mouth to beak resuscitation.  After five minutes of effort, we declared the chick dead.  It was a sad moment in the house as the kids have been waiting to get their hands on the tiny baby chicks I've been incubating for them.  I wanted them to have the full "farm experience" and now I guess I was giving them a little taste of it.  Sometimes they live and sometimes they die.  We walked the lifeless chick out to the yard, dug a hole, and buried it.

a proper burial :(

Bedtime has finally arrived and I think we have equally as exciting plans for tomorrow!  Peach picking and Cascade Caverns!!!!  Yipeeeeee!  Adventures!

I am thankful for a friend who has the same breakfast requirements...LET THEM EAT CAKE!!(Day 166).  Goodnight Friends!