Cribbage/Horseshoe Championships, 2010

Each year a growing group of our friends gets together to play cribbage and horseshoes (and eat and drink, and drink some more). The buy-in is $10 per player per event and the winner takes all. Nineteen players participated in the 2010 cribbage bracket and, thanks to the sage advice he got from me (the first to be eliminated) about not underestimating your opponent, this year's cribbage champion was Ken Rozema. For the horseshoe tournament, teams of two are picked at 'random' (HA!). Team Chard/Armani (Brandon & Winston) looked tough all the way through, but in the end by Team Brown/Brown (Pat & Tony) came away with the coveted trophy.

Gavin had a great time exploring the Browns' hatchery home in Fremont. We got there a day before the festivities started, so he logged some great bonding time with Pat & Michelle.

Fishin'

Gavin got his very own fishing pole, so you can bet it won't be long before he's hauling in fresh trout for dinner. We're not quite ready to attach a barbed hook to his line, so for now he'll just keep the rubberized plastic fish on the end and use it to catch chickens.
He's had a couple of opportunities to practice his cast on the Blacksmith Fork River. The first time was with his mom, who was more worried about him getting wet than being successful at casting (he ended up soaking wet anyway), and whose casting demonstrations invariably ended up with the little green fish caught in a tree. The second time was with Brandon and Chris, who seem to have a much better grasp of the concept.

A little more family time

Big Boy Room!

We may not have gone on any adventures this weekend, but we did accomplish a big milestone. Gavin has officially moved out of the little nursery room next to our bedroom and has moved into our former guest bedroom upstairs. He has to share it with our computer and filing cabinet, but he's still got plenty of room to call his own and he seems to really like it. A few months ago Brandon built a small closet and deep shelving into the corner. Then this weekend he whipped up a couple of awesome book holders. I still need to come up with some curtains and a bedside table. Gavin has slept in his new room for two nights now and although it hasn't gone perfectly, he's done better than I ever expected.

Quick Trip to Hyrum Dam

Our plan to go camping last night and to Bear Lake today got dialed back several notches to an evening at home and a quick trip up the road to the beach area at Hyrum State Park. It was plenty warm out, but the wind was relentless. Gavin had a great time until his lips turned blue and he decided he was ready to go home and take a nice, long nap. My 30-week belly and I were more than content with that plan.

Our first egg!

Yesterday Brandon found what we think is our chickens' first egg laying in the grass in the yard. It's a little one (store-bought egg on the left, Chard Yard egg on the right), but it's a few weeks earlier than expected, so I think they'll get bigger as the chickens get a little older. Now if we can just get them to start laying in their nest boxes instead of random places in the yard...
We started with 6 hens, then upped it to 7 when Ruthie brought a chick home from school. We're back down to 6 now because one of our poor gals got hurt and had to be put down. We ate her for dinner a few days later, but not without remorse. And actually, we're probably down to 5 hens because Ruthie's chicken (a.k.a. 'Skunk') is looking a lot like a rooster now that its tail feathers are coming in: Based on the cryptic information I got from Ruthie, we think this bird is a cross between a barred rock and an Americauna (or Easter Egger). Too bad if he's a roo because 1) a hen of this cross would likely lay blue eggs, and 2) he's going to have to go live somewhere else.