Saturday & Sunday (June 15, 16)

Several weeks ago, I emailed my parents that Josie was really interested in pigs and asked my dad if he could arrange a little field trip to a pig farm.

Dad took that idea and ran with it; not only did he arrange a visit to a local pig farm, he bought two baby pigs to bring home.  My parents modified their dog’s kennel (outdoor structure measuring 10×10) to be a pig pen.  They wanted the pigs to be a surprise for Josie, so all she knew was that they had “something special” planned and the appointment was at 11:00 a.m.

The kids speculated about this special surprise for days.  Josie was pretty sure it had something to do with pigs, and this morning when it was finally time to drive out to the pig farm she was really quiet in the car.  The landscape sure looked exactly right for pigs, but she was scared to get her hopes up.

We got out of the car and met the farmer.  My dad introduced everyone, and then he took Josie by the shoulders and said, “Here’s the part you don’t know yet.  We’re taking two pigs home.”

Josie was so overcome she could barely speak.  I thought for a minute that she was going to cry, just because it was so much more than she dared dream of, but she held it together.

The guy took us back into the piglet pens and let Josie pick out the two she wanted.  We encouraged her to get the smallest ones he had, just so they would be more manageable, but we didn’t have to convince very hard because she thought the smaller ones were cuter anyway.  (They’re roughly 30 pounds each, and 8 weeks old.)

Once we got the pigs home, the first order of business was baths; they stunk to high heaven and were covered in poop.  The pigs handled it a lot better than we expected.  We discovered they are both girls, so Josie named one Waddles (because she waddles) and the other Spotsey (because she has spots.)  Josie stood in the pen with her hands clasped and said, “I’m going to cherish this day for the rest of my life.”

The other two kids are jealous, but actually doing a pretty good job of not ruining the experience.

Bringing piglets home

Bath time!

All tired out, but clean. “Pigs in a blanket.”

Isabella has been interested in archery ever since she read The Hunger Games, so all winter my dad has been making her a bow using the old fashioned techniques.  I’m not up on the details, but it involves getting a long stick of black locust and then shaving off one growth layer at a time with a blade that looks a little like a potato peeler.  It’s incredibly time consuming, but makes a great bow.  The ends (the part that holds the string) are made of hand-carved deer antler.  It’s a gorgeous piece and will be a cherished family heirloom for at least a couple generations.

Isabella has been outside practicing until her fingers bleed; then she wraps them in band-aids and keeps going.  She’s actually getting pretty good with it.

Holden is the only one who hasn’t had his “special thing” yet, but he’s a harder guy to do stuff for.  His big passion in life is video games and he already has all the ones we’re willing to let him have.  We’ll have to come up with something else — perhaps a fishing excursion.  He loves fishing and there are some great places around here to do it.  There are also lots of guns to shoot.  I’m sure he’ll find something to be excited about in the next couple of days.

In the meantime, Josie is pretty much living in the pig pen.  We probably won’t see much of her this week!

Monday (June 17)

The kids all wanted Grandpa to teach them how to shoot a gun.

Safety lesson

The fun part!

Not so fun: waiting for her turn.

Tomorrow afternoon a circus is coming to town.  There’s no end to the fun!