Hello, Darlings! Welcome to the World!

We went to the beach this past Thursday thru Sunday. Before we left, I begged Oreo not to have her kittens whilst I was away. I told her I wanted to be there for that special moment as I had never witnessed kitties being born before. If I could have made her pinky promise, I would have. 

This is how I left her.....fat, happy, and still pregnant. 

It's probably my own fault for telling her she needed to wait. In true kitty fashion, she did whatever the heck she wanted. She had her kittens Sunday morning while we were driving home. She literally only had to wait 3 hours, but no.

And did she have them in the birthing box I lovingly made for her? Of course not, because that's what I had wanted her to do. I had a feeling she might snub the box when the time came, so before I left, just in case, I put a large blanket underneath my side of the bed. That is where she had her kittens. .....but not on the blanket. No. She moved the blanket over and delivered them on the carpet underneath the bed.

*Sigh*

Oh well! We have 4 healthy newborn kittens! EEKKK!!! I love them!!! 3 black and white, 1 gray. All freaken adorable! The kids are just out of their minds excited! 

Oreo is such a good Mama! She is very attentive to the kittens and allows me to visit with her and the kittens just fine. In fact, she seeks me out. She'll leave the bedroom to come find me and bug the crap out of me (you know....like almost tripping me 12 times) until I follow her back to the kittens where she crawls back under the bed and I lay down on the floor, petting her while she nurses her kitties. Haha

They make the cutest little meows! I love having them under my bed! I get to listen to their little mews when I'm awake, but they're definitely not loud enough to wake me up when I'm sleeping, which is a good thing. I've put in my sleepless nights with my own children, it's Oreo's turn, lol!  

Another week and they should have their eyes open!! Exciting!!

I wonder which are boys and which are girls? We haven't checked yet as we're not handling them much right now. In a few days I think we'll try and check. We came up with a list of 10 boy names and 10 girl names, haha. We can't wait to name them!

This is me.....forever looking at the kittens, hahaha. Hooray for babies! I needed a baby fix, lol. 

Good job, Sweet Mama Kitty. We are so looking forward to watching the kittens grow and deciding which one we're going to keep! Too bad we can't keep them all! 

With love,
Mama Hauck

Grandma and Grandpa's Visit!

This year, we were lucky enough to have both my mom and dad out at the same time for a week long visit! That was a special treat for the kids! 

After getting Grandpa all set up in our guest cabin and Grandma set up in her camper, no one felt like cooking, so off to Mexican it was! Whenever Grandpa comes to town, we know we're going to eat out a few times. He's got his list of favorites, and Ayutla's was the first one we hit on that list, haha! Thanks for always treating us out, Grandpa! 

I wanted to be sure to take Grandma and Grandpa to the water front park in Hood River this year, since neither have ever been and we've talked about how the kids love that park and beach area. We ate lunch at Solstice and let the kids play on the playground for a bit. Solstice has the best brussel sprouts, and those whirly-gig rides are pretty intense! 

Every year on our way home from camping, we stop at Packers Orchards to get ice cream. Grandpa has been with us many times as he's gone camping with us in the past, Grandma, however, has never been! So we took the short drive to go there because their ice cream is delicious and worth it! 

Another must do with Grandma and Grandpa - the Hood River Pipeline Trail! We've been on it a few times now and knew that Grandma and Grandpa would love it. It's an easy hike that is made extra fun by walking the metal pathway right over the pipeline. The kids love being able to get off the path and play down in the sand. It was a good hike and the weather was perfect! 

Here's the deer in that field at the end of our road, Grandpa! 

While Sam was at work, Grandma, Grandpa, and I took the kids to the Trampoline Park in Yakima. The adults did not partake in jumping this go-around, haha, but the kids got in a solid hour of jumping before we ate lunch at Bob's Burgers and Brew. That was a good meal! We also did some school clothing shopping for the kiddos. It feels good to get that done! 

We spent one day of their visit just hanging around the house playing and putzing around town. We took the kids to the library, had a picnic at the park, and spent some time at the pool! 

 

Happy Birthday to me! When you're turning 31, your birthday wish list is full of practical items.....like a new (softer!) bike seat, claw gardening gloves, reusable produce bags, a mini fridge for the guest cabin, a little spending money, help with the kids' back to school clothing needs, 10 pounds of raspberries to make jam, and a very much needed new garbage can! I admit, to many, those are not very exciting gifts, but to me....I hit the jackpot! Thank you, everyone, for getting me the gifts I really wanted for my birthday! :)

And what to do on my birthday? Also not very exciting, but very much wanted....knocking out my to-do list! We spent the day doing little odds and ends around the house that I've been wanting to have done for awhile....like buying more sand for our sandbox and cleaning it out. Now it's all ready for my Niece, Madalynn, to play in when they get here in a little over a week! Grandpa and Timothy helped with that chore! 

We also put up my mailbox in the garden that now holds all my gardening tools. Isn't it cute!? I love it! 

For birthday dinner, we met up with our friends, The Johnson's, at The Glass Onion and had a delicious meal. It was also the perfect time to take some family photos together!

We took a day and went to the Maryhill Museum. Grandpa has been here in the past, but Grandma hasn't, and some of the display often change, so it was nice to go again.

I was really excited about harvesting out first planting of carrots with Grandma and Grandpa here! We all chipped in to harvest the carrots, then Grandpa tilled up the bed, and Sam and I planted our second round. Fun! The carrots are delicious. I have a bug full ready to eat in the fridge, and enough grated, bagged up, and frozen to make two carrot cakes in the future. 

We spent a lot of down time having some outside fun. Grandpa and Molly flew kites whenever the wind allowed...... 

There was a ton of bubble blowing (and spilling).....

We broke out the new slip and slide that Aunt Jill got for the kiddos for their birthdays and added it to our old existing slip and slide to make one long awesome one!.....

And we also got in a little practice with the BB guns! 

On Grandma and Grandpa's last night of their visit, Sammy cooked burgers and Molly helped me set up a nice table outside so we could all eat out in the sunshine! We should do that more often.

We really enjoyed Grandma and Grandpa's visit and feel blessed that they both could be here at the same time! See you next year Grandpa, and see you for Thanksgiving, Grandma! We love you! 

With love,
Mama Hauck