free range george

Our friends Keith and Leslie are great babysitters for George. It is really nice to live in a place where there are always plenty of friends willing to watch your baby while you go out. So when they went on a vacation to Scandinavia and asked if we'd take care of their chickens Virginia and Dorothy - we jumped at the opportunity. Disclaimer, by "we" I really mean Ashley (and to a lesser extent, George). I went up a couple of times, but by far and away, Ashley deserves the medal for doing all of the dirty work.

One of the last days of chicken-sitting, George got to be a free-range kid (how we long for a backyard).

Some things you may not know about chickens:

1. They are actually quite beautiful birds
2. They lay an egg a day
3. They sometimes eat their own eggs
4. They don't peck (at least these ones)

Without further ado, I give you George, Virginia & Dorothy

"Mom, I think I just put my hand in something..."

Just looking cute. He was actually playing with the horseshoe pit stake. Horseshoe pit! Backyard. Separate garage for tinkering and storage. Yes, it's true, I have serious backyard envy.

"Well see here, I've been trampin' for so long... can't even reckon when I started. Let me grab my bindle and I'll be outta yer hair."

The hunter would quickly become the hunted

"I kid you not... I once saw a chicken at least this tall. She laid eggs like as big as my head"

"I don't know if this is awkward or not, but I figured I owed it to you, to tell you straight out, I've been eating your eggs."

"I dub thee, Lady Dorothy of Cornwall..."

Three's company

As you may or may not be able to tell, Spring is in the air. The days are getting longer, warmer, and we can't wait to start making regular trips to the beach and a lot more family biking.