Checking on the Animals

As I have mentioned before, the kids have a usual routine of checking on the animals at Grandma & Grandpa's farm. One of the stops is to check on the chickens. Grandma & Grandpa made an area for the chickens inside the old, red hay barn. Grandpa said John and Brielle could help feed the chickens on this day.

Here they are heading over... with Amy the dog following behind.

Brielle was carrying some cabbage that Grandpa gave her to feed the chickens. She was making sure Amy wasn't going to eat it, and telling Amy it was for the chickens. :) The cousins also know to keep Amy out of the chicken coop.

John & Brielle spotted 3 new eggs! Grandma Berning has always said the farm is a neat way for the kids to learn about the "Circle of Life", and she's right.

John refilled the chicken feed... while Brielle proceeded to pick up a chicken. She has watched her cousins & grandparents do it before, and she knows how to gently & quietly sneak up from behind the chicken.

After visiting the chickens we went to the end of the farm where Patches the Pony hangs out. Brielle showed me where we had to crawl under (well, she went under while John & I went over) a gate to get to this point. They she climbed up so she could lean over & see Patches. She was saying to these cows, "Move out of the way! I need to talk to Patches." :)

After this was when she asked to go jump in the cotton balls :).

"Can we go play in the cotton balls next?"

On Saturday, Brielle, John & I went out to the farm for a visit. After we walked around checking on the various animals... Brielle asked, "Can we go play in the cotton balls next?" I didn't know exactly what she was talking about until she led me to this stall in the commodity shed. I later learned the following: 1) This cotton seed comes by the SEMI-LOAD from 12 hours away, 2) Cottonseed is a valuable addition to the dairy cows' diet.

I had not ventured to this part of the farm during the winter, so this was the first time I had seen the kids play in the cottonseed.

Brielle was very familiar with the routine though... as she walked over, kicked her boots off, and starting digging her way up the pile of cottonseed. John followed.

It took probably 15 minutes of digging until Brielle made some "stairs" (her words) to climb up to the top.

John followed. He eventually made it... on his own.

This gives some perspective as to how much cottonseed is in here!

Then they ran around the top level jumping, tumbling, & rolling around.

Grandpa & Grandma B said we'd be finding cottonballs for awhile in boots & coats... and they were right :).

Superhero LOVE

John is really into Superheros... Batman, Superman, Spiderman, etc. Good thing the Easter Bunny knew that and got him this Superman shirt with an attached cape :).

What the kids did on Easter afternoon

Brielle & Alexia read a new book together.

Brielle & John blew their new bubbles.

John tried out his new water squirt gun... over & over & over :)

John had fun playing with a couple new toys from Grandma & Grandpa.

Later we headed up for the Rojemann Easter gathering where the kids had fun playing with their cousins.

Easter Day Pics

A fantastic scavenger hunt

Brielle & John enjoyed a scavenger egg hunt on Easter Day. They each had 10 eggs to find using picture clues to lead them to the next location. Brielle's clues had a 'B' on them, while John's had a 'J'. They needed minimal help with the clues since the pictures identified some of their favorites places & things at Grandma & Grandpa's house. To begin the hunt, the first eggs were here in the screened in porch:

Brielle's clue to take her to her 2nd egg:

John's clue to take him to his 2nd egg:

This clue...

took Brielle here:

Although John & Brielle each followed their own set of clues to different places, their last clues told them to go to the same place-- the boat dock.


Since the River was SO high, Grandpa Ted had this "ferry" rigged up for the last few weeks so that the boat dock could be accessed.

So we boarded the ferry...

and Tim pulled us across.

Then the kids found their final eggs! :)

Next they went into the house to open up their eggs to find stickers & little toys. John & Brielle were pretty excited to open each one, and proud of how they followed all the clues.

A fun cousin day

Emma & Josie came over for a few hours this afternoon and played with Brielle. They flew kites, jumped on the neighbor's trampoline, and then played on the swing set. Inside the play set, we put a tarp down over the grass and they each cozied up in their own sleeping bag. They played inside for at least an hour... and even had a snack service (me) that provided them with popcorn, crackers, apples, & water. They asked if they could have a real sleepover there sometime this summer. Good idea!

Jolene, Karley, & Tessa came over later and joined us for dinner since Terry & Connor were gone fishing for the day. Here's a jammie photo from the end of the night:

Karley, Josie, Emma, Brielle & John.

Good Friday at the Farm

It was a damp & rainy day, but that didn't slow Brielle down. She led Tim all around the farm to visit the animals in this order: the lambs, cats, calves, chickens (where she checked for new eggs and found one), Patches the pony.... and then back to the lambs.

Here's what John was busy doing the whole time that Brielle & Tim were walking around.

He fell asleep 5 minutes before we got to the farm and took a nice 45 minute nap in the car :)... resting up for a fun afternoon & evening.

After everyone ate dinner, there was an Easter Egg hunt for the 20 grandkids. The hunt was downstairs at Grandma & Grandpa's because it was too muddy & rainy for an outdoor hunt. Each grandkid was supposed to look for the eggs with the corresponding # to what grandchild that he or she is. John is #15 and Brielle is #12.

John was carrying his eggs in his shirt.... and enjoying the M & M's soon after.

One of Brielle's eggs was hidden on a classic Berning family photo :)... and another was in a filing box.

The excitement of finding her final egg! :)

Strawberry DIP

John is always a good strawberry-eater. Brielle, on the other hand, says she only likes strawberries with strawberry DIP... the "strawberry dip that Grandma Carol has."

On this day, Brielle knew we had some dip in the refrigerator so she asked for some strawberries. She said, "I need a knife. Grandma Carol showed me how to cut the green part off." Then, she took care of cutting all of these by herself!

America's got TALENT

The other night John and Brielle decided to do a little performance showing off their singing and dancing talent. I love how John moves his arms:)

New animals on the farm

My dad, Grandpa Berning, is always looking for new things for the grandkids to enjoy on the farm and the latest animals Grandpa got for the kids are two baby sheep, one boy and one girl. I am not sure if the grandkids have named them yet but they sure enjoy playing with them:)


Although after seeing the kids run after the sheep I think that my dad got them to help the grandkids become better runners:)

You are getting sleeeeeepy

John learned this from "The Care Bear Movie" :)