We just had them over from Tuesday morning until this afternoon.  It was a fun time watching over them and a farm.

Tom picked them up Tuesday morning while I did some of the farm chores.  When they arrived, they first wanted to check out the snakes nest they had spotted last time they were here.  There were a couple of good sized garter snakes there.  This is one of them.

Then they helped grampa check on the pregnant cows.

They helped feed the chickens.

 

Then Ryeleigh, who was being teased by a peahen, broke into the alleyway.  Tom and the kids caught her and hauled her out.

Tom then pointed out all of the squash plants that are growing up in the hog pen.  It will be fun to see what develops from them.

Then Ryeleigh busted into the front pasture.  Here is the video evidence before we were aware of the intrusion.

 

It took all four of us to finally coral her.  Then Tom fixed the breach in the gate with Piper’s help.

With the chores done, the next task was to make beds for the kids.  We have a guest bedroom upstairs, but William doesn’t want to sleep in it and Piper is too young to navigate the stairs by herself.  So we pulled a convertible bed and a camp cot out of the trailer for them.  But first we had to move the wool that was in the way.  Piper helped with this.

Then it was lunch time.  The living room is already getting trashed with kids stuff.

William wanted to ride, of course, so Piper and I set to making Whoopie Pies.  I have long wanted to make this recipe.  It was an early one from the sadly defunct Taste of Old Colony Baking zoom series.

Naturally there were problems with William’s quad.  And then they managed to lose a tiny part in the grass.

Thankfully the part was found, the quad was repaired, and the riding resumed.  Here they are sitting on it.

After dinner it was time to retire to the library/guest room.  William likes to play my vintage Sega game console there.

And Piper played with the horses I played with as a kid.  She pulled them all off of their shelves and lined them up on the bed’s foot board.

William then rummaged through the toy chest and found a remote control car.  Unfortunately the rechargeable batteries had died, and we couldn’t find the charging cord.  But he did find the metal detector that he likes to drive Tom crazy with.

Piper found a tiger nose and used it to try to scare William.

Then we all settled in the living room and watched Sandlot.  Apparently this was a favorite movie of their mother’s growing up.  Piper did get nervous about the beast, but William comforted her.

One thing about having the kids around, is that there is plenty of leftovers for the chickens.  I woke up early and picked peas and cherries while they slept.

The kids played hide and seek.  This is Piper “hiding”.

After chores (when we found the newly brown calf) and lunch (as well as more riding and Piper wanted to rewatch Sandlot), we headed out to Sedro-Woolley.  First we checked out their Farmer’s Market which I have long been wanting to visit.  Here are some fascinating mushrooms.

The kids enjoyed coloring on the table.  We purchased produce, honey, baked goods, and candy.  They even had Whoopie Pies for sale.

We then headed to Value Vintage where we bought some vintage toys, drinkware and a CD.  Then we went to Oliver Hammer where William got an “America” hat and Tom got socks.

Next we headed to the Skagit County Veterans Community Plaza to find my stepdad Al’s plaque, which we did.

Then we went to Hal’s Drive In for dinner.  After we went back home, and the kids played in the backyard.  We shucked peas, and then they fell asleep watching the end of Sandlot for a second time.

 

This is the status of our house this morning.

After chores and lunch there was riding out back while Piper and I walking the dogs.  Tom had to take the tractor out to mow it to make riding paths.

Then we packed up and brought them home.  William said Piper had rockstar hair with the wind whipping it up.

I thought William looked like a rockstar with his hat and sunglasses.

They are safely back home, and I just ate an adult dinner after dinners of mac & cheese with hot dogs and burgers & fries.  These are the mushrooms from the market sautéed in butter over pasta.  Yum!

But I believe a good time was had by all.