Who's in the hen house???

Yesterday, shortly after sunrise (you can tell by the lighting), I awakened to this tapping, scraping noise, and I laid there and thought -- What is that noise???? Sometimes Racey or Eeyore wake me scraping her(his) front hoof on the chain link fence, but this sound was different. So I got up to peep out and see what it was and this is what I found!!!

To the south of my garden, Mike is building a storage area (for garden supplies) and hen house for our future chickens. I've been meaning to go out when he's working on it for a progress picture, but this was too good of an opportunity. Racey AND Eeyore were walking around on the floor of the hen house and 'pawing' or should i say 'hoofing' at the floor. So now we know that the flooring can support over 1000 pounds!!!

When they realized they were caught in the act, they quickly exited:

Within 30 seconds the two were innocently standing by the fence trying to convince me -- "we weren't in the hen house!!! We're not chickens!!"

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig

After getting caught up in stopped traffic for about an hour and a half d/t a BAD accident where the whole of I-10 was closed down for CSI activities (collecting materials & measuring distances), my first day of travel was shorter than planned. I overnighted in Lordsburg, NM and knew I was in for a L-O-N-G day of driving for my second day. So rather than take the 'fastest' route according to TomTom, I chose the 'shortest' route and hoped I didn't make a big mistake. Except for one tour through a little mountain town, it did a good job! I made it home for dinner, saw some nice scenery, and drove about 200 fewer miles!! TomTom took me through White Sands National Monument:
and through some beautiful mountain/canyon vistas:

The purpose of my trip to Arizona was to take care of my little grandson, Riley while his mom and dad went white water rafting. We had SUCH A GOOD TIME!!! He's a wonderful and inquisitive little boy, about to crossover from the baby stage to the toddler stage!! He's good natured and tons of fun to be with. We had so much fun getting to know one another. He LOVES water!!! That includes the doggie's water dish or ANY source of water anywhere. Bath time is a favorite time!! Note the tidal wave in the tub from splashing!! And the look of glee!!!

Mobility is another full time activity during waking hours... On the carpet he crawls, but on the tile floor, he does a bear crawl (hands and FEET):
While Mom and Dad were gone, we worked on stair climbing, and it didn't take long to improve his technique. Stair climbing and assisted walking were his favorite things to do -

When Cheyenne and John got home, we went to a neighbors to practice swimming with Mommy:
Cana (black lab) usually comes along to visit his friend, Bailey for water sports - they NEVER tire of retrieving - the big splash is Cana:

And when I got home, we moved the new kittens to the side porch which serves as the training grounds. When napping, they tend to sleep together and all over each other. Ten of the twelve are pictured here!