Horses

The horses are a treasured part of our lives. We love that we can be with them everyday. We love that Scout can grow up surrounded by them. She loves them..I love that.

This day we prepare for our first family ride.

A ride on Frodo too!

Frodo does have eyes!

peas up

The peas, onions and pansies are peaking.

Baby chicks second week

The chicks are a week old now. They are coming out of the coop with mom every day.

She keeps a watchful eye on them and rushes them away if she thinks anyone is getting to close.

They have the "alert" pose mastered.

She has been teaching them to forage since the third day.

She has escorted them as far as about 50 yards from the coop. You may also notice how they colors have changed since birth. The black one is getting a yellow chest. The yellow one is getting more black strips.

Egg Hunt Party

The rain didn't stop our fun! No one even had to ask, they just came, rain or shine the egg hunt party is on!!

More then 300 eggs were hidden on the trails in the woods.

Some were easy to spot and some were hidden well.

Everyone hunts...

big and little...

young and old.

Most worked in teams.

Not slowed a bit by the weather.

Smiles all around as the baskets filled...

...and the rain came down harder.

Slowly they all retreated to the barn.

To dry off

count eggs

and eat. Everyone made something to share, a fabulous feast!

Whats next?

A scavenger hunt of course!

 Feather

 Smooth stone

"Y” stick

 Circle

 3 things from 1 tree

 Something soft

 Sprouting acorn

 Triangle

 Bark with lichen

Something man-made

 

I think the BIG kids had the most fun!

Some kids learned some new things. Whats "sprouting"? A pine cone and a oak leaf are not from the SAME tree. "What's lichen?"

They all eventually completed their list and headed out for

Our Amazing Race Game.

 Go to a sandy place and dig for 5 shells.

 Find the spools and make a stack of 10 blocks.

 Gather 10 acorns and shoot hoops. Get all 10 in.

 Fill a wheelbarrow with sand. Dump it in the sandbox.

 Find 20 pine cones and put them in the tractor sandbox.

 Give Murph a back rub. He will tell you when it is complete!

 Take a treasure from the chest!

 

They all worked in teams and showed great creativity!

Finally making it to the treasure chest!

Smiles all around!

You thought that was it! Oh no. After some cocoa to warm up we were back at it.

There can't ever be too much fun!

The rain finally started to let up.

Big kids get blindfolds.

I don't think there is any candy in there!!

The rope broke off. Murph taking one for the team!

I will let you guess what happens next!

We had an awesome day. If you came, thank you. If you missed it, we hope to see you next year. Scout received this beautiful basket, hand made by our friend Ritche Leone, and an adorable bunny. Life is Good!

Eggs

In the warmer weather the hens like to hide their eggs. We will always let the girls free range and that means egg hunts. One of the horse kids recently found a nest of over 20 eggs. The weather was cool at night and they were shaded under an overturned wheelbarrow during the day...perfectly preserved.

Typically when we find a nest and collect the eggs the hens don't leave their eggs any longer. We left 2 behind in hopes that they would keep using this spot. At least one of them does, we find an egg there everyday. Interestingly all the Americana's used this spot, all blue eggs!

Baby chicks

The black hen surprised us with two babies!

New blog

We have just returned from the Life Rocks Radical Unschoolers conference. We had a great time, made some new friends and had a great time together as a family for an entire week. It was not surprising that we learned there are many unschooling styles that families will develop for themselves. Our style is to do it in nature, leaving as small a footprint on the earth as we can. We met others like us and they thought they were alone. I have decided to try to connect all of us together with a new blog...unschooling in nature.


I will continue this blog about our homestead but please visit me at the new one about our unschooling journey! Hopefully we will find new friends there.

I have also reformatted the freethinking adventure kids blog. Now it is about family adventures we will be leading, paddling, hiking, riding and camping. Spread the word!