Summer Hikes

 Battle Creek

Alien Tower

Cascade Springs

The Chicken Chronicles 6.24.22

I haven't been posting about the chickens because there hasn't been any significant news to report.  All of that changed in June, when after many months of deliberation we decided to give away Bandit.  We knew that some of our neighbors appreciated how Bandit's crowing made it feel like we live in the country.  We knew we were not violating city ordinance.  We knew that families just down the hill from us had roosters.  And we thought about these things, along with the knowledge that we hoped to move away soon, and justified keeping him for a while.  But eventually, between our back neighbor's intermittent voicing of her annoyance, often laced with profanity; the not-quite-anonymous complaints from another neighbor, through our landlord; and the occasional visitor who was nervous to go in the backyard for fear Bandit would peck at him or her; we felt we should try to find a new home for him.  We hoped we would have as much luck as we did finding the perfect home for Henry, and I think we did.

I shared this picture of him on the Utah Backyard Chicken Enthusiasts Facebook group, along with a short bio.

I got lots of comments about how handsome he is - no surprise there - and several people were interested in taking care of him.  I connected with one owner who said she would come, but never showed.  This is the first day we thought we would be saying goodbye...

I tried again and found him a new home with a real chicken-lover who has dozens of chickens on a little family property in Payson and who'd lost her rooster when he was protecting the flock from a predator recently.  She said she's reinforced the chicken area to make it safer and needed a new rooster to try to raise some chicks.  She was very sweet and excited to have a new rooster to love on.

I was really sad to say goodbye to Bandit, and I expected Jack to have a hard time.  Thankfully, he understood why we were sending him away and handled it really well.

The ladies seemed to act the same after Bandit left - no moping around or confused behavior.  Though we have noticed that they don't come down to watch us through the family room glass doors nearly as much as they used to.  I guess that was Bandit's thing.  Sometimes I miss hearing him in the backyard, but I don't miss feeling anxiety about whether his crowing is bothering someone else.

June Miscellany

Fun with the leaf blower:

 

Fun with makeup:

Luke's makeup is still visible the next morning, when he woke up, went downstairs,
and promptly fell asleep on the couch.  Ahh, summer.

Robotics Camp at UVU!

Luke built LEGO figures then hooked them up to

a computer to make them move.  He loved it!

Panda Express

Ben and I saw MJ: The Musical on Broadway in May and loved it so I was extra excited

to take the kids to see a Michael Jackson impersonator from Vegas at the Scera Shell

in June.  Everyone did a great job and it was a really fun show!

Luke, who read a book about Michael Jackson in the Spring, particularly enjoyed it,

though you can't tell from the picture.  He shared trivia about specific songs and dances.

Ben was out of town when I took the kids to see The Drowsy Chaperone at HCTO
so Eliza brought a friend from school, and when we walked in we saw their
beloved 6th grade teacher sitting on the front row.  A fun surprise!

Sometimes you go to swim lessons wearing 2 different shoes.
And you carry the other halves of the pairs in your hands.

Eliza returned to Silks in May after taking a few months off for volleyball.
I took this picture in June though...

Cat started a summer job at Five Guys!
She was an outstanding employee from the start -
they asked her about training to be a manager after just a few shifts!

Second week of robotics camp ... not as fun as the first
but still cool.

Finally!  Lightyear!
We all really liked it, especially Jack.

Luke couldn't help but make himself a "meat sandwich" after seeing the movie.

Someone should really tell Ben not to fly drones in the house.

Eliza and two girlfriends met a few friend-boys from school to play
pickleball.  This felt like a big deal to all involved, including me,
though I was only the chauffeur.

Cat and I hiked the Y one morning.

We were rewarded with this sight.

Partnering at Silks!

Malasadas in Pleasant Grove aren't as good as malasadas in Hawaii,
but good enough to enjoy, especially since Hawaii is pretty far away.

There are definitely more pictures of Luke in this post than any other kid!  That's because I'm around him so much, but also because he does lots of funny and interesting things, in part due to his age.  AND he's usually a good sport about letting me take pictures to post :-)