A taste of the outdoors

Last night, we went to a local farm/feed store that was having a "Moonlight Madness" sale. From 10:30-12:30, everything in the store was 20% off. So, yes, we went. We woke the kids up and managed to get them into coats & shoes and out the door we headed. There was a free bag of candy for anyone who showed up in their pajamas, so you better believe we were all pajama-clad. Don even wore his "Studlicious" T-shirt, which he is always careful to never wear anytime he's in public.

We got snow boots for me, work gloves for Caleb, chicken feed and fencing. (Oh, and a cute little tape measure that was covered in flowers for Meagan's stocking). And only 2 bags of candy. I don't know the reasoning, but we were disappointed that we only got 2. Oh well. It's not like we really needed 4 bags of candy anyway. All in all, I have to say I don't think I'd do it again. The line was absolutely ridiculous and we didn't get home until after midnight. Of course, it didn't help that I was feeling a lot of baby pressure.

But, the good news was the fencing. This morning, Don strung it up in front of the coop so that we could open the door and let them out. Well, "let them out" may not be the right words. We had to physically go in and take each and every one out. They just couldn't fathom jumping that threshold. They've eaten grass before, as we've brought it to them, and we thought that they would see the grass and want to come out, but they were a little gun shy. Anyway, once we got them out, they had a grand 'ole time. They pretty much stuck together in a big mass, but did plenty of grass and bug eating.
After a while, lots of them went back into the coop and Don went in and shoo-ed them back out. It was much easier that time, as they knew that the threshold wouldn't kill them.
Speaking of killing, here is a shot of our (as yet, unnamed) kitten with them. She is about as scared of them as they are of her. She doesn't quite know what to do with them. She hung out for a while with them and then wandered off. I'm curious whether she'll be okay with them once she gets bigger since she's sort of grown up with them. Well, at least they'll out-pace her in size.

Chief Wahoo, on the other hand, sees chicken dinner when she looks at them. We were trying to guard the opening we had left so that she wouldn't get in, but we got a little distracted and she snuck in. Within seconds, she was trying to pounce on them. Luckily, we were able to get her before any damage was done, but obviously, her instincts are strong. (We did not take any pictures of her with the chickens!!) We are hoping that by the time they are full-grown, they will no longer be viewed as a possibility for Chief.