Baby chicks, and kayaking (not with the baby chicks, though)

My boys are picking up chicks.  

Who could blame them?  They're cute!

Picking up the human kinds of chicks will happen soon enough, but for now, I'm referring to the feathered kinds.  I am so happy that my kids are so excited about these baby chickens.  We have waited for 21 days, while the eggs slowly grew life inside of them in the incubator in our bathroom.  After all the waiting, pipping (the start of a hole) is an exciting sight:

Watching chicks hatch from an egg is a trip.  It's such hard work for these poor little, wet, dinosaur-looking creatures, that when they finally break out of the shell, they often just pass out for a minute.  With their mohawks sticking straight up, they rest their tiny little head on the shell of a not-yet-hatched sibling.  And then they start up again, frantically trying to sort out how their legs work.

It takes them a while to dry out, but when they do - oh my! Cuter fluff balls don't exist in the animal kingdom. 

My children agree.  In fact, little Eva has taken on the role of mothering the tiny chicks, carefully holding them in her hands, offering them bits of food.  The chicks already follow her around, or fall asleep in her warm hands.

Other exciting news: Steve and I attended the Skagit Land Trust Fundraiser and Auction a few nights ago, and we bid on a inflatable Kayak that's worth $900.  We won with a bid of $300, so we are pleased as can be.  We took it out for a test float with our friends the other morning.  There are not many prettier lakes than Diablo Lake, and although we got rained on, we all had fun.

I foresee many adventures in this Kayak!  It's super easy to set up and take down, and it's light, and sturdy, and perfect in every way.  Yes, I'm in love.

Let me leave you with images from a walk to our  neighborhood creek, and lastly, Luke playing his guitar in the yard, with a stage to match. Ahem.