Crazy Animals

Last Monday morning around 8:30 I realized that Porter was missing.  The night before Matt and I had knocked down the woodpile that we use as an ersatz fence, so that we could put the chicken coop on top of the run.  We knew this meant that we would not be able to put Porter in the backyard until we had piled the wood back up the next evening, but apparently it was such a habit for me to let Porter out in the morning that I had completely forgotten.  I couldn't even remember letting him out, but I knew he wasn't in the house or in the backyard.  So, I figured that I must have.

I immediately got my shoes on, and even though I was still in my pajamas, I went walking around the neighborhood calling for Porter.  Then I decided that the girls and I would drive around looking for him.  We rolled down the windows and called his name at the top of our lungs while I drove about 15 miles an hour.  I'm pretty sure everyone in the neighborhood knew that he was missing just by the sheer amount of noise we were making.

After about an hour, I decided that I needed a shower because I felt absolutely disgusting and couldn't think of anywhere else to look.  I called Matt to tell him Porter was missing, and Matt told me that he had let Porter outside before he left for work, which at least made me feel less absentminded, since I couldn't even remember seeing the dog at all that morning.  Then I quickly showered, and after I got dressed, I headed outside to call his name again.  As soon as I stepped outside, Officer Barker (the perfect name for a dog catcher) pulled up in his Animal Control truck.  Apparently, Dutch Hall had found Porter in his pond chasing the swans even before I realized Porter was missing.  Porter had scared the Hall's chickens into a tree and had chased the peacocks into a corner.  So, great . . . yeah, we got a ticket.  I supposed worse things could have happened, but I am not pleased that I have to appear in court next week.

A few days later I even received this offer in the mail.
I certainly hope I won't be needing representation.

  On Tuesday I apologized to the Hall's for our stupid dog when I picked Kirsten up from farm preschool.  They didn't realize he was our dog and said that they wouldn't have taken him to Animal Control if they had known, but honestly, I can hardly blame them.  After all, he was chasing their animals.

Thursday evening Kirsten and I walked over to the farm, and we got to see the peacock spread his feathers.  We thought he was so beautiful and watched him for quite some time.

Male peacock showing off

On Friday we stayed home since we had been running around like crazy all week, and the girls asked me to swaddle them, so that I could pretend they were my newborn babies.  They were so funny and sweet.

My newborn babies

Saturday morning we went to the Rec Center.  I did yoga with Matt.  Reagan went to the Kids' Club, and Kirsten went to Zumba Kids.  Afterward we went to the mall to eat lunch and watch Zootopia, which we loved.  I'm pretty sure Matt and I laughed louder than anyone else in the theater.

That evening the girls had a babysitter, and Matt and I went to see Jane Eyre the musical at the Orem Hale Center Theater.  It was an enjoyable production, but honestly, Jane Eyre makes a much better book than musical.  I highly recommend the book to anyone and everyone.

On Mother's Day I woke up to Kirsten knocking on the door to let me know that Reagan had had an accident.  At least the accident was in the bathroom.  So, it wasn't that hard to clean up.  Then we realized that Reagan was sick.  She had a cold, which meant that she wouldn't be able to go to Nursery at Church.  We all went to Sacrament Meeting, but then I went home with her afterward because Matt had to teach the Elders' Quorum lesson.  I was bummed to have to go home from Church early, especially on Mother's Day.  However, despite having a sick kid, which is never fun, the day was quite nice.  Matt made me eggs for breakfast, and he grilled up some delicious filet mignon for dinner.

Reagan was still sick on Monday, but we mostly had a nice day.  She took a long nap in the morning since she hadn't slept well Sunday night, and Kirsten and I played/worked outside.

Kirsten took a picture of our chickens wandering the yard.

This is me digging out a garden box to replace the dirt with sand for a sandbox.

Later after Kirsten and I went inside, I heard one of the chickens in distress.  I ran outside to find that Porter had her in his mouth.  Yelling at Porter to drop her, I ran outside to make sure she was okay.  Thankfully she wasn't hurt, but she was not happy.  When I carried her back to the coop, I realized that I could only see three chickens in the yard.  At that point, the girls and I started looking for the other three.

Apparently, Porter had scared them out of the yard.  I quickly found one in the front yard, but I couldn't find the other two.  Once again the girls and I looked everywhere, and once again it seemed to be to no avail.  We asked the neighbors.  I called Animal Control.  When Matt got home, he looked too.  Finally, when there was a torrential downpour with lightning and thunder, I gave up.  I resigned myself to the fact that we were never going to find those chickens again.  Then, after the rain let up, Matt went outside to look again, and he found them on our driveway trying to get back in the backyard.  It seems that the perils of the rain made them ready to face the perils of our dog once again.  I felt so relieved to have those chickens back.