It seems like it has been a busy week! Tuesday Nicholas and I made lunch to take to the farm. Debbie is off helping the Hall family this week, so the guys were hungry! Ben hung Nicholas' swing at the farm, so he enjoyed a few minutes of swinging before lunch. He also enjoyed his first piece of dog food on Tuesday. He pulled a hand full out of the dog dish at the farm (while under Ben's supervision) and managed to eat one. He gummed it up and in his usual fashion had it all over his shirt and mouth!

Yesterday my friend Amber and her husband and son came to visit. They live in Phoenix, but are in Spokane visiting family. Caleb is almost 16 months and the boys enjoyed playing together (or at least side-by-side as is normal for this age!). We played outside in the sandbox and on the slide. It was funny watching one climb up the ramp and the other climbed up the slide and then they would just sit and stare at each other until we moved one.

After lunch we took a trip out to the farm so the boys could see the pigs. Nicholas really enjoyed them (as usual) and Caleb wasn't so sure. Ben set Nicholas down in one of the hoops of sleeping pigs. Of course Nicholas ran towards them and they all got up and ran away. It was kind of funny. I made some homemade ice cream and brought it to the farm with us. We sat in the shade and enjoyed the treat with Ben, Lou and Louis. Later in the afternoon we set up the sprinkler for the boys to play in. They both had a good time running around the yard.

After dinner we had to say good-bye to our friends. It may be a while until we see them again as they are expecting another baby boy in late November.

Today my friend Julie is coming to visit. She lives in Sacramento and it has been about a year and a half since I have seen her. She gets to stay a couple of days, so I am looking forward to her arrival.

We don't have much to report about the skunks. Last night Ben stuck the hose under the shed and turned it on...but much to his dismay nothing happened. I told him to use the big hole, but he chose the little one. When nothing happened he was going to go out there and move the hose to the other hole. I told him he was not going to go out there as the skunks could make their appearance at any moment. He is planning a new way to get rid of the skunks. He is going to get a big tub/trough and put a ramp going up the side. He is going to make a hinged platform of some kind with bait on the end. The idea is that the skunk will walk out towards the bait and the hinge will release and the skunk will drown in the tub. We will have to keep you updated on how that works.