More Cows in the Yard. Ugh.

Okay, at first it was amusing seeing cows in the yard. They were an unexpected sight and kind of humorous. But then they started coming in every day, jumping our cattle guard. Although I didn't mind them eating the leaves in the yard, those leaves that I never got around to raking last fall (actually I raked them into a pile and then the wind blew them back all over the yard). What made me go over the tipping point when I had steaming fresh piles of cow manure on my nice patio. That's just not right.

So when I looked out my bedroom window and saw this scene, I was not pleased. The cows in the big group were eating Henry's old straw/hay doghouse. Something had to be done.

The first step was to get the cows out of the yard. Henry isn't much help in this, he usually chases the cows in the wrong direction. They panic and break through the fence. Here's one cow that's spotted an opening.

She gets closer and prepares for...
...the leap over the fence. That must be worth an Olympic medal.

We now have four broken sections of fence. My husband has repaired two and they aren't very pretty repairs. We're going to have to spend some time redoing them and painting if we want to have a decent looking fence. Which, I have to admit, is pretty low on our list of house and yard maintenance. So if you're looking for our house, look for the one with the yard full of cows and the crazy-looking fence.

My husband removed the straw bale doghouse. By the time he got to it, the cows had demolished the bales and it was pretty much just straw spread out. Desert Boy and Henry "helped." Desert Boy was very adept at telling his dad how to do it. He's already ready to be a boss.

By the way, sorry for the lousy quality of these photos. I had my camera on a wrong setting and didn't notice until I had them on the computer.

With the straw gone, the cows still came into the yard to munch on the leaves, bushes, and whatever else looked appetizing. Then we got the garden ready to plant, which included bringing a load of manure and old silage for fertilizer. Somehow those cows got a whiff of that old silage, and we suddenly had another yard full of cows. So we might not have much silage in the garden for fertilizer, but we should have quite a bit of manure, both fresh and old!

Bike Riding Adventure

This afternoon Jenny and I decided to take the kids outside for some fresh air. Our older kids are learning how to ride bikes, which lets us push the babies at a fairly decent pace. It's also a bit of an exercise in patience, as Ava and Desert Boy don't always listen to our directions.

And Ava has only been riding for about a week, so Jenny figured out a way to tether the bike and pull her along. She's pushing the stroller with one hand and pulling the bike with the other. All I can say is wow! She is truly getting a good workout!

Ava and Desert Boy seemed to enjoy most of the adventure. It won't be long until they are racing each other and we won't be able to keep up with them.

For them the best part is when it's time for snacks. It's amazing how snacks can be such a great motivator!

Desert Boy especially liked trying Ava's snacks, which are different than his! Even with snacks, it always seems like the ride home is harder. The good thing is that everyone should sleep well tonight.

Secret Desert Canyon

My parents have been here visiting the last week, and I always like to take them different places so they can get the flavor of the high desert. One of our adventures was to go to a secret desert canyon. Although it's March, it's still chilly, and we had to start off by putting on winter coats.

This is the start of the canyon. It has beautiful rocks, and if you know where to look, you can spot...
...petroglyphs! These old rock carvings are a bit worn and not the easiest to see, but still it's really neat imagining the people who made them. Did they ever come in March? And if they did, what did they wear to stay warm?

Further on, Desert Boy enjoyed scampering up the rocks. He loves to climb, so we had to rein him in a bit or he would have been to the top with us trying to catch up.

Eventually we got to the end of the canyon section. Above that is a wash that curves and bends and eventually reaches a mountain range. I went ahead and was able to get a wider view. Then Desert Boy and Grandpa decided to join me.

Most of the snow had melted at this elevation, but there were still patches on north-facing slopes.
Grandpa was most impressed with how desolate this section of desert looked. At this time of year it sure looks like desert, with so many earth tones in all the rocks and vegetation.
We sat down to get a new profile pic for my blog. My favorite ended up being the unposed one (above).
But the posed one does show off the desert scenery behind us.
On the way back down the canyon, we found a little pocket with icicles. Desert Boy was intrigued.
He touched one and found out it was cold. Then he tried licking one.

Desert Boy and Grandpa continued down the canyon, enjoying the adventure.
We even found a little tunnel for Desert Boy to climb through. He liked it so much he did it twice. We made a number of analogies to Dora the Explorer since that's one of his favorite shows. Sometimes it makes the hiking much easier!
Grandpa and Grandma near the end of the hike are all smiles. Because "we did it, we did it!"
We took advantage of the scenic location for a photo op.
And then it was time to drive back out to the paved road. Grandpa was quite curious why there was a Stop sign right next to the gate. We stopped at both. Then it was time for a rest before we began the next adventure.

Hopefully we can find more fun canyons to explore on future visits.

I'm Asleep

Here's Desert Girl asleep in her high chair. The thing that cracks me up the most is her hands.
How many people sleep with their hands flexed?
She sleeps best when someone's holding her, but sometimes we have to settle for second best, especially when it's time to make dinner!

New Van

We recently decided we needed some new family wheels. I didn't want to take a photo in the driveway, so I stopped and took a photo on the way back from feeding the bummer calves. This is a much nicer background!

You can see we've already managed to find some dirt and dust!

One of the best things about it is all the space. Like some of our friends mentioned, it's hard to go wrong with the space, especially when we sometimes stock up on groceries only once a month.

And it's great for when it's our turn to carpool to preschool. Here we are with four car seats (Desert Girl's is in the middle and backward facing). We have room for one more in the back with Desert Boy. We can seat up to eight people. Ready for road tripping!