Chicks at Ten Days

I was supposed to put an update on the chicks at the one week mark. I, um, missed that. (I was out walking a chicken. On a leash. To visit a Kentucky Fried Chicken.) Since it's been ten days, here we go with the Ten Day Update...

There have been no casualties. All of the chicks are still with us. NorthernToddler has only been banished to his room on one occasion (for lashing out at a chick in a jealous fit)(note to us: we might want to reassure our son that we love him more than we love the chicks!)The birds are getting bigger by the day. (And look! - they almost match our sofa!)

Our "kids" play nicely...

It's been an eventful week - we've seen the tiny fuzzballs grow several inches and start to feather out. We've settled into our routine of providing food and fresh water - and learned to put the food in the feeder trays on the side of the brooder. (When we started out, we were using an old pie pan to hold their feed because they looked too small to reach into the side trays. That just made it easier for the chicks to spend their time taking dust baths or pooping in their food. That, in turn, wasted too much feed. Darn chickens!) We've had them out of the brooder for 'socialization', and because it's fun to watch them scoot around. We've had escapees: see the photo above for what happens when one bird flutters out of the brooder and the others can't quite figure out how to follow! (All lined up, watching in envy!) (Since then, several of the chicks have learned to flap their wings enough to leap over the side of the brooder when we don't have the top on!) We've had chicks poop on the floor - NorthernToddler says we should put diapers on them - and chicks kick feed all over the floor. One of us is counting the days until these 'nasty birds' moves out of the kitchen and into the coop. (The other of us is already getting weepy over the day that her 'babies' grow up....)

It's been quite a week of learning and fun and amazement. Keep visiting for more updates and photos (maybe I'll find time to post the photos of the roller coaster I built for the chicks!)

First Race

On Tuesday nights, a local outdoor center holds a trail race series called, appropriately enough, "Tuesday Night Trail Running Series". Northern Toddler and Northern Daddy turned out to crew NorthernMommy's race. Levi's job was to clap politely for all of the runners as they entered the finish line corral, and to cheer wildly when Mommy came up the hill towards the finish. He did his job well. Daddy's job was to be the Official Hauler of the Heavy Toddler™, and he did his job well also. (Job duties include chasing said toddler across a wet field, retrieving toddler from the middle of the course, arguing against visiting the donkeys again (don't ask!), and getting soaked by wet toddler shoes as he rides on your shoulders.)

Before the official "old people race", they held a "Cubs" race for the kids under age eight. Northern Toddler got his race bib and toed the line with the rest of the pack. The starter briefed the runners on the course layout (run down to that guy, turn right, and head out around the barn until you get back here - it's about two hundred yards) and off we went. Levi did not win his first race. He finished second-to-last. He beat the young girl who had her mom carry her around the whole course. In his defense, he was the youngest runner by a few years....and we slowed down a little bit to look at the donkeys in the barn. Northern Daddy is very proud that Levi ran the entire race - his very first race!

There's NorthernToddler mid-race....at this point, he's keeping pace with the little girl who's mom carried her the whole way (and they were nice enough to step aside a bit to stay out of the photo!). He had enough kick left at the end to finish ahead of her!

On an abruptly different note, we have a quick NorthernToddlerChickenUpdate: if you've read the earlier post where we told you about Levi saying "We Eat Them!" in response to being asked what we do with chickens, you might appreciate his latest antics.

We had one of the chicks out of the brooder and were letting her scoot around the kitchen (under close supervision - we don't want to play hide and seek with a very fast fuzzball), and she found one of Levi's shoes on the floor. She started to peck at the loose shoestrings and pull on them.

Levi sees this, grabs his shoe, and starts to chase the chick around the kitchen, shouting "EAT MY SHOE!!" "HERE! EAT MY SHOE!!"

Gotta love that kid!

Rainbow Sweets

Drive to Marshfield, Vermont and visit this establishment:Marshfield is a small Vermont town (not much bigger than Jericho Center) which, to my knowledge, is known for nothing more than being one more town to travel through when crossing the state on Route 2. Get off the Interstate in Montpelier, roll through East Montpelier, slow down into Plainfield, slow again for Marshfield, head for Danville and St.J - just check marks on the map as we head to points East.

Passing through Marshfield, we'd notice the bright pink sign outside of this dive-looking place: RAINBOW SWEETS CAFE AND BAKERY. It looked cheesy, and we had no intention of stopping there when it was only a few more minutes to a convenience store or Dunkin Donuts to get some 'real' food. (Just like passing the House of Tang in Montpelier - every time, I have to poke fun at a restaurant named that. No chance of me eating there!)

A while ago, there were some magazine articles about this Rainbow Sweets place. Articles and reviews that positively glowed about the gastronomic delights created in this joint. Articles and reviews that were so well written that even NorthernDaddy took note. It was official: the funky place with the blazing pink sign was on our radar.

Still, it took two years and many trips along Route 2 for NorthernMommy to finally coerce NorthernDaddy to pull off the road. (You see, she'd tried to take Grammy there for Mother's Day, but they were closed. I felt bad for her, so I agreed to stop.)

The reviews were right.

The instant you step inside, you are transported to an earlier era - one where the shopkeeper engages each client in conversation and dramatically details the offerings for the day. Constant patter as more customers enter - everyone is welcomed and immersed into the show. A show it is, too! We picked up on the theatrics immediately (yeah, we're jaded and cynical), but chose to relax, engage, and enjoy the experience.

And enjoy it we did. The atmosphere is contagiously fun. Almost all of the people that came in while we were there took the same approach as we did - slow down and enjoy the show. Some people came in the door and couldn't shake their "I've been stuck behind a slow-moving RV for too long - I need coffee and a quick donut - let's get going" attitudes. They totally missed this gem of a place - and I'd credit that as their loss.

Should I mention the food? Maybe - since that's why we went? The food is quite good. NorthernDaddy considers himself a connoisseur of pastries and sweets - and has the physique to show for his years of exploration in bakeries. Most of what has come to be defined as 'good' in our modern society is overly sweet and processed. The items that I sampled were more of a fairly bland (but not 'bad' bland) base of pastry under an exquisite (yes, I just used the word exquisite. If you've got a problem with that, we can step out back and settle things...) topping. The first item I had was - well I don't remember what it was called - a sort of biscuit (think pie crust taste and texture) topped with strawberries and a sort of caramel syrup or something. I don't know! I stopped taking notes after the first bite. The second item was the specialty - "the thing we're known for" - again, a type of biscuit pastry under creme-filled balls of pastry. (Look, it's late; it's been a long day; and my description isn't doing this thing justice. Do yourself a favor: open a new tab in your browser and Google 'St. Honore' pastry.) The only real disturbing thing about this dish is that the owner/chef kept referring to it as 'Johnny Depp's balls on a plate' or 'Johnny Depp on a plate' - neither of which was encouraging to my appetite..... There was a ------------ (we'll just pretend that I remember what he called it....you'd think I'd remember after eating FOUR of them, but...) that was a dough made of cottage cheese, sugar, and a small bit of flour - and filled with apricot preserves. Off-the-charts-good! NorthernToddler loved that item!

As we made our way out the door (fleeing obesity and death-by-pastry), we carried a bag full of the apricot thingies and a fresh loaf of Italian bread.

We would absolutely recommend this place to everyone! It's not as novel as the gas station-turned-surfer dude restaurant that we recently ate at (fun place, wasn't it Grandma and Poppa?! Where in the **** is our food?!), but the food is wonderful and the entertainment value is off the charts.

Our real reason for driving clear across the state was a cook-out that Grandpa Frank was having. NorthernToddler will travel far for free food! Bonus for little man was a slide. Not just any slide, but a slide in a made-for-me toddler size. NorthernToddler spent a solid forty-five minutes climbing up the ladder, sliding down, and repeating as soon as he saw this thing! I guess he likes his slide!