Buttercup and Peanut

So, not that anyone reads this anymore (and who can blame them, as there’s been nothing to read for years now!), but thought I’d post something just cuz.

My mom was here when Buttercup was overdue with her baby, and she looked out the window one morning and asked, “What is that? Emily, I think there’s a baby cow out there!!” We had been anxiously awaiting the birth and then missed the whole thing! But I did get to watch baby Peanut stand up for the first time, and that was pretty magical.

Peanut kept trying to nurse and Buttercup was just not having it at first. She would move away every time Peanut got close. We were getting a little worried, honestly, and Buttercup’s poor udders were getting massive. Definitely took a few hours before instinct kicked in but within a day they were nursing like pros.

Sweet girl. Buttercup was a good protective momma right off the bat!

Peanut was born on July 17th, can’t believe she’s over 6 months already. I thought for sure we’d have sold her months ago, but we’re only just starting to get her ready to sell. It’s been fun having her around, but we just don’t have the room for 2 cows. I also need to get Buttercup AI’ed soon, I’m many months behind on that as well. Having cows has been a crazy, fun, hard, fulfilling experience so far. Sometimes I think I was crazy for thinking I could manage it, but here it is, almost a year after we first got Buttercup, and we’re all still alive! We are, of course, the town oddity – little kids love coming over just to see the cow, and people always ask with incredulousness how it’s going. And we have had a few mishaps – I’ve been dragged around the yard a couple of times, there was a grumpy pregnant period (she was pregnant, not me!) where I wondered if she was really the cow for us, and she’s even gotten out of the yard a few times involving crazy chases around the neighbors’ huge yards. I’ve learned a lot, and still feel like I’ve got a ton to learn. But overall, I don’t mind being the crazy cow lady!

Camping at Dash Point State Park

Our camping trip in pictures, with captions that I will attempt to keep brief but will probably fail at keeping brief. Meaning there will be at least one long explanation, and probably more like 3. See, I can’t even keep this brief.

    

Kids picking blackberries while the adults set up camp.

Baby blue eyes.

My other baby blue eyes.

And my brown eyed boy, complete with blackberry face.

We pretty much always have chili and fritos for our first nights dinner when we’re camping. Lily does not approve.

The preferred activity. Uncle Josh, Uncle Jonathan, and Aunt Anna are way cooler than Mom and Dad. It was lots of fun to have them camping with us.

Two at a time!

Pretty girl. Before her haircut.

Cooking our peach cobbler in a borrowed dutch oven. It was good!

My cute chunk-a-lunk at the beach.

Handsome Uncle Josh. He’d only been home from his mission for about a week! I was glad that the kids weren’t shy around him.

Braving the seaweedy water.

I don’t think Michael got in the water until the very end. He really enjoyed playing in the sand.

Handsome husband with a cute baby. He’s a sweetheart. The beach isn’t really his thing, but he went anyway cuz he knows how much we were all looking forward to it. And he never even complained! He’s a saint.

Aww, working together.

Seesters!

Pretending they’re rowing a boat.

Cute baby.

He secretly loves it when I take his picture.

See?

Musick boys being Musick boys.

Of course we dug a big pit.

Back at camp, enjoying sweet potatoes.

Enjoying something a little sweeter than potatoes.

Look who came to visit! We love Becky. Elizabeth and Mike came too. It’s always nice to see them, and they got to meet Peter for the first time.

My mom came to visit too! All these visitors while we were camping, we felt so fancy.

Cuties.

One of the last pictures before we left. We had so much fun!. I really enjoyed spending the time with my siblings, and with Ben before he had to go back to work after paternity leave. I apparently didn’t get any pictures of it, but Jonathan brought a slackline and set that up, and that was really cool. I didn’t think I was that bad for a beginner, but Josh dominated. He got on for the first time, and was like a pro just a few attempts later. Of course Jonathan showed us both what’s what. It was lots of fun.

I’m definitely thinking we need to make it an annual thing to go camping with the whole big fam. Maybe next year we can do one with Ben’s side of things too! Yay for camping!

Bonus picture: Lily and Michael on a camel at the Point Defiance Zoo! Lots of fun!