Bug Day and Chicken Dinner

On Saturday the Idaho Botanical Garden hosted "Bug Day." What a great event! There were a ton of booths, hands on activities, and more than a few entomologists. The boys came prepared...they caught a Praying Mantis the day before, who came along with us in a yogurt carton. The boys were very excited to visit the "Ask and Entomologist" booth with their specimen.



A close-up of a handsome bug guy...





And another handsome bug guy...




After bug day C and K were very happy to have lunch with their good friends the Edwards. All five Edwards were along for this lunch, and Teresa earned new respect from me. Nothing is easy with five kids, including two under two. WOW!

The day before we headed home all the Edwards followed us out to a fruit stand we had heard about from Cara. This fruit stand is about 30 minutes from Boise, but it was well worth the trip. We got three big boxes of delicious peaches for $12! And an even bigger box of apples for $8! This is amazing fruit, and I have big plans to make apple butter...I have never made apple butter, but am sure Martha is getting nervous...

En route to the fruit stand we spotted this gem.



This is way out in the country, but there were houses on this road. What a great address.

Frisbee Golf

Klamath Falls is not known for its shopping. Browsing through a store (other than Costco) doesn't happen very often for C and K. While in Boise we visited REI. C and K spent nearly half an hour ogling the vast array of pocket knives. Then they discovered the toy section. If you know REI, you know they are not a toy store. This toy section is quite small. But the boys disappeared into this toy section for quite sometime before C emerged with a large box under his arm and a plan. C had found an assortment of 3 frisbee golf discs, the price tag...$29. This he felt was a good deal as the individual discs sell for upwards of $14 each. After A LOT of internal struggle, C decided to spend his own money on this extravagant purchase. Unfortunately REI had just one box left which would leave K with no disc golf set... C proudly made his purchase, and we headed around the the block to another sporting goods store now on a quest for a disc golf set for K.

What luck, at the new store we found the exact same set for $4 less! C was giddy. He was going to save $4. He could not believe his luck, he would return the set to REI and have FOUR more DOLLARS! This was a major windfall. Both boys felt they had secured an incredible bargain. I couldn't help but hold my breath knowing that together they had just spent over $50 on 6 plastic discs.

In the end, the boys would agree that the big splurge was worth it. Our next stop was Ann Morrison park in Boise. They have a fabulous frisbee golf course. This being a new sport for us I had no idea what to expect. But it was a lot of fun! After about our fourth hole, with the temperature reaching to 102 degrees, all of us covered in sweat, and completely out of water, K looked at me with genuine delight and asked, "Mama, did you not know this would be so fun?"

Somewhere around hole #10 there is this amazing sundial. It is called an analemmatic/equatorial sundial, and it really works! I am not kidding, in about two minutes C had it figured out and together we were able to determine the time to the minute and the date to the day. There is a plaque on the sundial that points out that it even adjusts for daylight savings time. I was absolutely astounded at this contraption, but K quickly pointed out that it would be too hard to carry around and that my watch is better.

Here, the boys posed on the sundial.

We played two more times while we were in Boise. The last time we went with Johan, who dazzled the boys with his throwing ability. K remarked, "Mama, did you not know Papa could throw so far?" The game went very well, and for the record, despite my lack of distance Johan and I had an even score, but the game had to be called when C's disc took a detour into the creek. Knowing how much this disc was worth, C boldly waded into the very murky, very slimy water to retrieve his disc. Unfortunately these things don't float. Although C was unable to recover his own disc, he did find two other discs, of the more expensive variety. He left ecstatic with his good fortune. On the way back to the car both boys were discussing how many discs might be in the creek and how much money they might make by wading in...

I am posting two videos below of the boys on their very first attempts at frisbee golf.

Good To Be Home

We spent the last week in Boise with Johan. The runway here in Klamath Falls is being repaved so the jets are stationed in Idaho this summer. We have made a few trips to Boise this summer. It has been fun, but I think the boys are ready to stop packing for a while. (I'll post some pictures tomorrow of our Boise trip.) This afternoon K, looking around as if addressing a crowd, and speaking loudly to ensure that his entire audience could respond asked, "Raise your hand if it is good to be home." The room wasn't quite at capacity, it was filled with -- me and C. I hesitated, paused in my diligent cantaloupe cutting, smiling at him. K cocked his head sideways and inquired, "Aren't you glad?"

And another gem...

We were running errands this afternoon and a man told me to, "Have a good day, Ma'am." C asked, "Why did he call you Ma'am?" I don't know why, but I am still shocked at the ability of young children to spot irony and to see through so many situations. Without thinking I explained, "Well, he was being respectful, or maybe he just thought I was old." No hesitation...C explains, "That doesn't seem very nice."

Biking and Banjo Bob

Mountain biking at Lake of the Woods is one of my favorite day trips from Klamath Falls. The boys carry their water guns all the way over the pass in their backpack for the inevitable water fight and swimming at the end of the ride. There is an incredibly well maintained trail that goes from Fish Lake, up and over the pass to Lake of the Woods. The trail is seven miles (one-way) and it has some pretty significant climbs, but once you make it to the top, the ride down is a ton of fun. The boys are always pretty quiet during the ascent, but on the way down we are led by a chorus of, "Wooohoos," and various boisterous shouts.

Yesterday we started at Fish Lake because we prefer the facilities at Lake of the Woods. When we arrived at Lake of the Woods we settled the kids in for some water time and Johan and Larry raced back for one of the trucks. When I say raced, I mean they literally raced, knowing that Nikki and I were timing them and would go for our own best time when they came back. In the past I have done that ride in 50 minutes. But Johan and Larry did it in 35 minutes!!! Needless to say all of my trash talking was fruitless, they whipped us...

Lake of the Woods has a great restaurant and a wonderful deck. We had dinner at the restaurant and were entertained by "Banjo Bob." There was live entertainment! It was the most folksy thing ever. Banjo Bob called the kids up to teach them how to play spoons and call the roll. They even got some of their own mic time getting to make animal sounds while Banjo Bob played his harmonica AND banjo--at the same time. Did I say folksy? The boys were so inspired they decided to show off the incredible genetic gifts with which they have been bestowed... The boys danced.

Go C, Go C, Go C!!!



That is Banjo Bob behind C in the picture above. I am pretty sure that C is dancing to the tune of "Goin' up to Cripple Creek, Goin' up to Cripple Creek to have little fun..." This next picture doesn't capture the drama, but K possesses talent that is no less refined than that of C.

I Love Klamath Falls

This was front page -- above the fold news in our town on Wednesday. I am going to cut and paste directly from the Herald and News site. The headline....

4-H turkeys stolen


These turkeys, raised by Thomas and Kirstin Volk since mid-March as 4-H projects, were stolen from their backyard Thursday night or Friday morning.
Children raised the birds to sell at county fair
BY JILL AHO
Monday, August 3, 2009 11:58 PM PDT
H&N Staff WriterIt was 12-year-old Thomas’ first 4-H project, and it was 11-year-old Kirstin’s first for-sale project.With just a few days left until the Klamath County Fair, the Volk children had high hopes for the standard bronze turkeys they had been raising since March. They hoped the turkeys would help offset the cost of raising their rabbits and chickens for show.But when the family went to feed the turkeys Friday morning, they discovered the 4-H projects had been stolen from the backyard of their Crest Street home.

And then...the next day this headline.

Good Samaritan donates turkeys to 4-Hers

Children's turkeys were stolen last week
Thursday, August 6, 2009 12:12 PM PDT
Two children whose 4-H turkeys were stolen late last week will take stand-in turkeys to the Klamath County Fair. Although police have yet to identify who took the turkeys, a good Samaritan donated a male and female white turkey to Thomas and Kirstin Volk.“We had a lot of people call to donate turkeys,” their mother Robbin Volk said.

I love that this is our news, not that this is happening, but I love that this is headline news for us. Bad things are happening. Very bad things are happening, and in Klamath Falls 4-H Turkeys are being stolen.

Peaches and Bees

This morning I went out early to check on Gobble and take care of some chicken chores. I decided to trim some branches off one of our Hawthorn trees as a treat for the goats. Using a very cool tool (not sure what it is called but it is basically a little curved saw on the end of a long stick) I sawed off a few small branches. Feeling slightly more ambitious I selected a much larger limb. I sawed about halfway through and the branch shifted slightly. I heard a buzzing sound. But I didn't stop sawing. Intent on my task I didn't stop sawing, even as I swatted buzzing insects away. The branch shifted again and the buzzing intensified. Fortunately, at this point my saw became stuck and during this interim I realized that the buzzing had a source and that my labors had repositioned a very large bee hive by about 3 feet. With typical grace and calm, I dashed shouting across the yard, flailing my arms and legs about. My sudden dash startled the goats, and they too ran across the yard, hopping over a few ducks in the process. The ducks then noisily flapped their wings in an effort to resettle themselves away from the malay.

I decided to deal with the bees in the evening, hoping that they would perhaps calm down in the evening. I left the scene, saw suspended and hive dangling.

We headed for Ashland and peaches. Vally View Orchard had some (although slightly hail damaged peaches) as well as apples and nectarines.

Our goal was to harvest enough peaches to cut and freeze for cobbler throughout the winter. This was our first foray into food preservation. Unfortunately we were about a week late for peaches, but the peaches we did get were absolutely incredible, I am talking juice running down your arm delicious. In the end we took about 13 pounds of peaches, 10 pounds of apples, and 4 pounds of nectarines. We blanched, removed skins, cut and froze 5 bags of peaches. Looking forward to pie this winter!




















The sun was setting by the time we made our way back to the scene of the bees. Johan was ready to lead C and K into the bee battle. None of the boys had been present when I discovered the hive earlier, all were excited to see the hive and were ready to take it down! The initial plan was to knock the hive into a plastic bin and then quickly cover it with a lid. We soon realized that the probability of success in said endeavor was nil. We opted for quick and sudden although somewhat haphazard destruction. Having freed the long saw from its position high in the tree, Johan now extended it, and circled the hive. C and K were nervous and giddy, excited and scared all at once. C kept a running commentary and relayed each development to me (I was about 15 yards further away from the excitement than him), he didn't want me to miss anything...

The first hit was a direct hit, but those bees are skilled craftsmen and the hive moved little. Two more blows in quick succession resulted in hive chaos, from our vantage. All four of us retreated but quickly realized that we were not followed by the anticipated hummmm of angry bees. We crept closer. Johan and the boys were not going to leave until they were sure that the hive had been destroyed and that we could safely return in the morning. So we crept closer, but still on alert and ready to run. Remarkably the hive had survived the saw and remained securely attached to the branch and virtually unscathed. Two more big swings, and the hive was split and down. This time we left, quickly, we all made it to the car unstung.

Hobble and Gobble

A couple months ago we decided to raise some chickens for eggs as well as a couple turkeys, presumably for Thanksgiving. We undertook this adventure with another family, the division of labor has been wonderful. We share chicken chores, and expenses.

Shortly after we welcomed the chickens into our garage (they spent a few weeks there until they had enough feathers to be outdoors) we visited The Grange for some chick food and supplies. If you have never seen a big box filled with more than 100 tiny 3 day old ducklings you cannot imagine how incredibly cute tiny waterfowl can be. Because we already had chickens it wasn't too much of a stretch for me to answer in the affirmative when the boys asked, "May we have one, please?" And still later when we learned of a family that had a couple of young goats in need of a home, we were somehow prepared to embrace our new agricultural calling.

In March of 2009 we were responsible for a grand total of zero farm animals. In fact I had lived each day of my life, until this spring, with no agricultural/farm responsibilities. Fast forward, today we have 6 ducks, 2 turkeys, 1 rooster, 17 hens, and 2 goats. This experience has been incredibly interesting. We have all gained significant practical knowledge, and had a lot of fun in the process. To be sure it is a lot of work, but it is redeeming, and it is fruitful. We believe that we now have 6 laying hens and are harvesting an average of 5 fresh, healthy, organic, truly free range eggs daily!

The turkeys turned out to be one tom (male turkey) and one hen (female turkey). I had always heard that turkeys can be mean, even spiteful birds. Ours may not be old enough for such distasteful behavior yet, because so far these two are very sweet. They actually like us, unlike the other birds who I presume merely tolerate us for the food. The hen was either born with or at a very young age sustained an injury to her toe. She does not walk well, but does not appear to be in pain, and manages to get around quite well. For this reason, she is called Hobble. The Tom therefore is Gobble.


Sadly, Gobble, is sick. We aren't sure what is wrong with him. Early last week he was being picked on by some of the hens. So we isolated him. The next day when we went to check on him he was extremely lethargic, and did not greet us with his typical display of fanned out feathers. Usually along with the fanned out feathers his red neck would turn bright blue and that red thing (it must have a name?) that hangs off his nose would grow and hang down past his chest. Now it has been 4 days and Gobble won't get up. He is eating, but he isn't getting up.

Goodbye Easter Bunny

Today we were driving and C suddenly insists, "Mama, promise me that you did not put out the things that the Easter Bunny put out." I had an idea about what he was asking so I asked, "What do you mean?" Again, "Promise me that you didn't put out the stuff that the Easter Bunny put out." Not much more clarity, but unfortunately he is not going to lose the "promise me" language. Now I am pretty sure I know where this conversation is headed, but I need to distract C until I can get away from K. Really creative, "Hold on C, Mama has to make a quick phone call."

I had some clues that C was starting to connect the dots related to these notorious characters. I had decided that if he ever directly asked me I wouldn't lie. The direct challenge was likely a good indication that he had already come to some conclusions of his own.

Fast forward, we arrive at our destination, K jumps out to play with his friends B and R. I ask C to hold on for just a minute. "What makes you ask about the Easter Bunny?" C explains that a friend of his told him that he saw his parents putting out his Easter candy. Tough to argue with that... I asked him what he thought. He answered that he thought I put his Easter candy/books out too. I asked him if he really wanted to know and he nodded agreement. So I told him that Papa and I put out things for Easter in the spirit of the Easter bunny and Easter. C wants more clarity, "So the Easter Bunny isn't real?" Right. I guess I was naive to hope that would be the end of the discussion, but C wanted to take it all the way. We had to cover St. Nicholas, Santa, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Surprisingly, I think Rudolph was the hardest for him to take. This evening he called me aside again to address the Tooth Fairy.

In the end C did really enjoy being in on this grand secret with me. He is very much looking forward to continuing the game for K and his young cousins. He is under a strict secrecy code, and I think he understands that his new knowledge is not for circulation. He was also really relieved to know that in addition to continuing the "game" for K we could continue it for him as well.

Strenuous Shmenuous

We took the boys backpacking in the Sawtooths a couple weeks ago. The hike itself was absolutely gorgeous we followed Falls Creek up to Falls Creek Lake. Falls Creek is really a long series of small and stunning waterfalls. The guidebook explained that the hike was strenuous and noted an overall elevation gain of just over 3,000 feet. Because the distance was just five miles I elected to ignore the "strenuous" note. This turned out to be a very bad decision. This hike was gruesome. It took us nearly seven hours to hike in and almost five to hike out. The boys were amazing. C carried his pack the entire time! K needed some assistance, we carried his pack about half of the time. Poor Max was wearing his own pack for the first time, a burden that he felt was completely uncalled for. The adventure was almost worth it. The scenery was breathtaking and we were really out on our own. Except for one group of campers on the other side of the lake we had this incredible lake all to ourselves.

C's biggest complaint was not the extreme hike, the extreme heat, the biting flies, nor the big pack. It was the bath that his parents subjected him to. Before allowing these two dust/soot covered boys into the tent we insisted on a dip into the lake that was only weeks ago snow. Good sports though, we subjected ourselves to the same torture.

This next picture doesn't do the location justice. This is the bottom portion of an approximately 75 foot waterfall that delivers water from Upper Falls Creek Lake to the Lower Lake. The plants growing here smelled so good. I have no idea what kind of plants they are...

Dirt Boarding

What do you do when you discover you have access to a 20 foot pile of dirt and an abundant supply of scrap wood?

a) Experiment with "body surfing" down the hill (with little thought or care for what you happen to be wearing).

b) Experiment with all available scrap wood to determine which slides the fastest/handles the best.

c) Ride each face of the hill and assign each a rating ala ski hill (i.e. green, blue, black, and double diamond).

d) All of the above

*Following are two video clips of the boys' endeavors. The first is K, the second is C. Just click on the play button.

The boys have discovered that the construction site is full of untold treasures. Today our short site visit yielded; one worm carried home in a discarded coffee cup, one dirt board constructed of broken concrete forms, and two pairs of shoes each filled with approximately 1/2 cup of dirt.