Thank God for the Break!

It's been awesome having time off. From school at least, if not the barn!

Shane's hair is beyond shaggy. I'd love to cut it, but he wants to grow a 'man-bun.' There's a cartoon character who's a volleyball player with one and Carrie joked about me getting one, but it stuck with him!

Not that I can throw stones. My own pandemic hair is probably the longest it's ever been. Carrie attacked my hair one morning and then told me not to move for a picture.

I've trimmed the beard since then. I got tired of my mustache curling into my mouth!

No school takes some of the urgency out of barn chores. There's no planning or class lurking if we take too long. Carrie's been feeling better, so we've been going out as a family. That's let us tackle some of the odd jobs that can be overlooked for a while, but elevate the operation when done.

Like poopbusting.

I don't remember the last time we dragged the dry lots. Shane got a kick out of riding around with Mom.

Maddy has been her usual itchy self. Carrie tried switching to a different allergy medicine to see if it helped to no avail. 

Maddy will walk over and ask for scratches when we're around. She's got her favorites and we've learned a number of them.

She's very expressive!

The barn is a source of community and we hope a blessing to everyone who's part of it. Laura had a bit of heartache when she was walking Ernie. He spooked and stepped on her ankle. I found out when Carrie bolted inside to get ice. Laura found out she had a fracture on Sunday.

Barbara showed up while Amy and Carrie tended to Laura.

There was a riding party in the works. Carrie was on Eowyn.

Barbara was on Maddie.

And Gay was on a mule for the first time in her life!

"The ears are a hoot!"

Pockets hadn't been worked in a while and was reluctant to earn his keep, but Gay got him moving!

It was Carrie's chance to introduce Gay to Eowyn, too. The point of buying Eowyn was to ride, so I'm glad that Carrie's been active! 

Barbara tried out Maddy's new saddle and declared it a success. Maddy's been feeling good lately. A couple rides back, Barbara asked for a canter on the trail and Maddy offered to gallop....and gallop she did! We hadn't realized she was a speed demon and Eowyn couldn't keep up!

I took a few pictures to chronicle the fun before going inside to be with Shane.

The windows were up to get fresh air and I heard my name on the wind later. Abby was beside herself. All of her girl buddies were saddled up and she was all alone! The anxiety made her make a fool of herself.

Carrie asked me to stall here and close the curtain door.

I brought in Eddy to give her a buddy. He happily went to eating the remains of Pockets' hay while she marginally chilled out.

I went back to playing Legos with Shane. I was thrilled he showed an interest, so we made a concourse for his airport, a bridge, some mansions, and a bank, etc.

I went outside again when I heard horses squabbling through the window. 

The ladies stabled Pockets on the boy's side since Eddy was in his stall. They hadn't closed the curtain door and Magic and Pockets were acquainting themselves with each other!

Horses were a big part of the break, but we finally had board game time! Carrie and I finished Pandemic Legacy Season 0! It was worth the preorder. We played 5 Minute Marvel as a family several times, and Shane and I played a round of Horrified.

Shane spent a couple of hours looking at some of my Battletech stuff and asking questions, so we ended up playing a mission. One of my sourcebooks was for the animated series (that's canon as an animated series in the universe!). Shane was curious, so we looked it up on Youtube and watched some episodes. It's no masterpiece, but it was a shared moment.

The days blurred together, but Sunday rolled around. We saw highs of 70s early in the week and ticks became active again. The prediction for Sunday morning was mid to upper 30s, but it dropped into the 20s instead.

Laura was shambling around, so we did the majority of the barn chores. Carrie gave her 'das boot' to help and walked Ernie for her. Shane helped by playing announcer with Amy.

The sun warmed the air and it turned into a pleasant day with a high just over 60° F. Scott, Mark, and Hazel came over to grill and hang out!

We opened up a bunch of windows and the adults played 5-Minute Dungeon and The Crew while the kids curled up with tablets on the couch. 

And I didn't take any pictures. Can you believe that?

The one picture I have is from when we played The Crew. Carrie had a crazy hand and wanted to show us after the round.

I realized I didn't have any good kid pics as we were saying goodbye, but it was too late!

Landie came over an hour later. Shane 'babysat' her. They played hide-and-seek, Legos, and Shane read part of a Dogman book to her. There was a My Little Pony break in the middle, but Landie isn't the type to stay zoned out forever.

Carrie got jumped on by both kids multiple times! 

Shane got in a little trouble after his shoulder nailed her in the chest! "You're not that small anymore!"

It would've been nice if we could've had another playdate somewhere in the break, but double visits on Sunday was a strong finale. 

Have I mentioned I've enjoyed the break? Cause I did. I was productive, too. I wrote 22 blog posts over the span of 5 days! I didn't do any grading, but my students didn't do much over the break either. I'm as ready as I'll ever by for Virtual School on Monday and I hope they're in the same boat. There are three weeks to go until winter break. We've got to cover polygons, quadrilaterals, and basic circles before taking a couple of weeks off to forget it all!

Social Sunday

Henry's been unavailable, but after Shane and Hazel hit it off last week I texted the book group. "How about round 2?"

They were game! This time Shane and I drove into town. We met at the brewery.

Shane and Hazel hit the Roblox fast. Hazel had asked if they could play together, so I packed my laptop without telling Shane.....and never got it out. They were so engrossed and commentating on what was going on I didn't volunteer anything! 

Mark, Scott, and I sat downstairs, talked, and played The Crew while the kids enjoyed having another kid around. They were in the staff break room and we took turns peeking in on them. Eventually, I brought in snacks for a self-care and electronics break!

Hazel was happy to lead Shane on a tour. "My dad crawls into these!"

The brewery leases space in an office park that used to be a large factory. We walked the back halls and Hazel hit some buttons in the loading dock to show Shane how the shutters worked. He got to close them and then we all jumped on a scale to see how many hundreds of pounds we weighed together.

We picked up Scott when we got back. Mark built an arcade console powered by a Raspberry Pi. It had hundreds of old arcade and SNES games. 

Which led to some old fighting games. Mark and Scott are pros. I'd like to think I was a good sport about being beatdown.

The kids ended up playing a little, too.

Hazel's learned a little bit of smack talk from her dad! Shane really wanted to commentate, but he had to be pulled back sometimes from trying to point at the screen and block the players' views!

We spent about 3 hours out. It was a fantastic time. I'd been worried Shane wouldn't have any social outlet for the weekend and I ended up getting to see my friends, too.

And then Landie showed up Sunday night, too! Shane and I were working on school work when I got put on babysitting detail.

Shane was supposed to finish his assignment, but the TV was on.

It didn't matter that Landie was watching PJ Masks. The TV's siren call summoned Shane closer and closer.

Nevermind that the preschooler who the show was intended for couldn't stand still and wanted to run and jump off couches!

Shane was so mesmerized he didn't want to play "the penguin game" with Landie, so I played some. 

The kids both bounced around whenever I paused the show, but I left it on after a while. I was tired! 

I'd do it all again next weekend, but we've already got big plans: Shane's going to see Nana and Pop! He's talked about it incessantly since he heard, so you know he's looking forward to it, too!

Happy Bday, Love!

Carrie wasn't pro-Birthday this year. She said something about "I've never really liked my birthday."

So I went right to the blog to say, "Look! We did this! And this! And...ok, that year was basic, but what about this!"

The day of Carrie's birthday this year was a rainy, muddy mess. She had been scheduled to attend a riding clinic, but they pushed back the start time. To Carrie's amazement, they didn't cancel. She and Micayla opted not to go. That led to a lost deposit and lots of grumbles.

Sunday made up for it. It was a downright party at the barn!

Laura and Amy came to do morning chores, but they brought cupcakes! Barbara and Heidi came too and it was a horse lover's party.

Shane and I came down after an hour of adult time. He brought his normal level of energy.

He revved Loki up to wild levels and got a bruise from the roughhousing. I wish I could say I was surprised.

However, I want to give Shane a quick shout out for discovering a new kitten game. He calls it "Sonar."

The game is simple: Shane takes a small rock and gently throws it. The kittens hear the sound and pounce! 

They're showing good hunting skills. I missed a fantastic video of Aria doing a mid-air take-down of a locust. I hope they move on to mice soon....

It didn't take long for Shane to notice Mommy's cupcakes.

Or Tsuki!

Amy was really kind to make them and she was even kinder to listen to Shane talk about "tick worms." That's a leech in Shane-speak. He watched a video with Carrie on YouTube and was a fountain of facts.

Amy pulled the video up on her phone and they watched it together! Shane and Laura have both worked with leeches and maggots at the hospital. 

Amy entertained Shane while Laura focused on Ernie. He lost a rear shoe.

He got a duct tape temporary one (Is there anything duct tape can't do!?).

Heidi and Laura went for a walk with Eddie and Ernie and Barbara took Maddie for a short spin while everyone talked. It was just a fun time.

Ellie arrived as people were leaving to take care of Magic. He showed up lame for breakfast on Friday. The ladies think it's an abscess that needs to work itself out. He's got some love and Epsom salt baths. 

He was, also, the recipient of a duct tape shoe (but pink!).

Magic pulled a trick on me later in the afternoon. Carrie and Ellie had him on stall rest. I went down to refill his hay and check water. I closed the stall door, but I didn't clip it. I honestly held the clip in my hand and thought, "Nah. This will take a second and he's resting."

A second was all Magic needed.

I heard the door and he was in the aisle as I turned.

He got an opportunity to sniff around as I called Carrie for backup (Flip flops and an unwilling horse aren't a great combo).

Magic's tour of the grounds was brief. He was back in his stall with new hay with only a minor fuss.

For him, it was a bit of fun.

For me, it was a good humbling moment and reminder that little things are important!

For Carrie, it made it added a little more excitement to make the birthday weekend less routine.

For Shane.....well, the kid had no clue at first. When he did see Magic on the security camera and thought to tell Carrie! I was already on the phone with her, but it was a good reaction.

Happy Birthday to Carrie! Sorry we couldn't go to Busch Gardens or do something fancy, but maybe next year!