The Family Trip
In our previous post we talked about how we processed out meat chickens and discussed the whole experience through the first bite of grilled breast that has given us an even bigger appreciation for raising animals. With death also comes life and during the time we had handled the butchering and processing we had also begun incubating. Our laying hens have been working overtime giving us anywhere from five to twelve eggs a day. We’ve got a pretty impressive rooster in there with them so we know they are fertilized. Jaken ordered an 8 count incubator so once it came in, we got it set up, and put some eggs on the kettle so to speak.
The instructions said it would take 21 days for the eggs to successfully incubate and hatch so we had some time. While we waited we did a couple candling checks on their progress but for the most part let them do their thing since we got the kind of incubator that rotates them automatically. Everything appeared to be behaving as expected so we decided to take a little weekend trip.
Our intentions were to go to Junction for the Goat and Sheep Raisers Association Trappers Clinic but once we hit the road late on a Thursday evening we encountered a few storms and rough winds so we ended up stopping over in San Antonio instead. What was planned to be a weekend of learning turned into a family time trip in the birthplace of Texas. It onyl made it better thatn it was Texas Independance Day. We got a hotel on the riverwalk and after letting the baby play for a bit after the long car ride we hit the hay in preparation for a big Friday.
We started the day off by heading over to a coffee shop can Revolucion for some much needed caffeine and breakfast tacos. While there we came across a man playing guitar on the street and Jaken wandered over to say hello and chat. When we walked away one of the local security officers said AJ is always super friendly and actually is the grandson of Lefty Frizell the musician. Pretty sure if she would have asked anyone else they wouldn’t have know who that was but Jaken being the music connoisseur he is knew exactly who it is and some of his songs. After that we knew we needed to ask him to play something for us next time we saw him.
After breakfast we wandered down to the Alamo to walk around and take some photos. It was particularly busy so we didn’t go inside but we walked the perimeter and took in the atmosphere of the mission that held its own against the Mexican Army when the odds were so stacked against them. Even though they eventually fell its hard not to feel the honor and awe of knowing the soldiers there put up one heck of a fight for their independence. It’s no mystery why we strive to Remember the Alamo and the freedoms we enjoy because of it.
After the Alamo we found a few cute shops to stop into before the Riverside Mall loomed in front of us. Thinking Hope could use some new shoes we found a kids shoe store and get her some tiny New Balances she liked and then of course had to get Mommy some matching ones as well. Once we got decked out in our new shoes we found the play area and let Hope run around and climb to her hearts content. She had the whole area to herself and had a blast on the slides and stairs. Once we saw signs of sleepiness we loaded her back into her stroller and took a walk down the riverwalk back to the hotel.
After a short break and what we though would be a nap (it wasn’t) we loaded back up and headed down to the Buckhorn Museum. On the walk there we ran back into our friend AJ and requested a song. He was so excited we remembered him and recognized his familial connections he had tears shining in his eyes while he strummed us a tune. He has a very good voice and you can see his talent shining through and eventually Hope dozed off to the lullaby. After chatting we made out way to the Buckhorn for the most impressive collection of, you got it, Buck Horns we’ve ever seen. Not only did they have a billion deer heads but they had everything taxidermy from elephants to lions to sharks. Even a grey wolf and a buffalo. Didn’t realize how large some of these animals can get. Also they let you buy a beer and bring it with you through the museum so that was a neat addition to the tour. Afterwards we were starving and the baby still sleeping so we grabbed a bite to eat before getting some ice cream and heading back to the room for the night.
The next day we woke up and headed to IHOP for breakfast before hitting Aquatica for a day at the waterpark. Hope hasn’t experienced a water park yet but loves swimming pools and waterhoses so we new it would be a hit with her. We decked ourselves out in matching Buc-ees swimsuits and hit the pool. Hope particularly loved the child sized slides and the lazy river. The water was quite cold so we took several breaks to let her warm up though and it never got her spirits down. She was so worn out by the time we shut the park down than she slept right through our dinner at Chili’s (we made sure to get a stereotypical family vacay as possible).
We drove back home Sunday and checked our incubating eggs to make sure they were behaving as expected. They all appeared to have continued growth except one who hadn’t progressed to the “totally dark” stage so we took it out and place the remaining seven on their hatch mat to prepare for the coming due date.