Ranch Hooves

Our little ranch continues to grow and become more and more operational. Last night, we drove CLEAR out to nowheresville to pick up 2 adorable potbellied piglets.**

Since we were going out anyway, I lined up a few goats out that way too!

The kids are delighted (human, not goats.) The funnest part of the whole trip was the caravan we were pulling.... More on that in a sec.



I had decided to take the minivan because it has a DVD player. I figured the kids might as well be entertained (quiet) while we drive that long way. Well, that went bust. The players didn't work, but to my surprise the kids were entertained anyway. There were loads of animals to look at out their windows. And they were all so excited we just talked the whole way about towns we were driving through and animals we were seeing.

Anyway, back to the caravan. We have a perfectly fine pickup truck that would have done beautifully at this job, but like I said, I had decided on the van. So that meant some modifications. I put all 3 kids on the middle row and collapsed the 3rd row down. Nice, big space now for the animals. I then loaded up both dog boxes into the back. James got his wheelbarrow out, loaded up a bunch of hay, and lined the boxes with it so our new little ones would have a nice spot to lay for the ride.

First stop - pigs. Into the smaller dog box they go. Have you heard the expression "squeal like a pig?" Well, we all lived it last night. Those suckers are LOUD! :) Lucky for us, they settled right down once they got in the box and we were on our way.

Second stop - goats. The owners got a good chuckle when they saw us pull up in a van. There were a few "you are going to put goats in THERE?" But, in they went. They neigh'd for a good 10 minutes when we set off back for the ranch, but then quickly quieted down as well.

My favorite part had to be the drive back home. Listening to the kids giggle as the goats neigh'd and the pigs oinked! Even JL and I were giggling! I mean, we've got 2 adults, 3 kids, 2 pigs, and 2 goats all driving around in my van! How hilarious is that? Not to mention the stop at McDonalds drive-in for some much needed food! The drive-up lady had NO idea that in addition to the 5 hungry people she was dishing out food to, there were 4 other beings in the car! haha! Luckily the 4 legged ones were silent through our exchange. :)

Bert and Luke. Fresh out of the dog box this morning. They are settling in nicely. They are a bit skittish, but I think they will overcome that soon enough.
Eckerd is delighted at his new friends!
Fergus herded them onto the porch earlier this morning!
Our two little potbellied beauties are catching a few extra zzzzzz's this a.m. They have yet to come out of their box!
Delilah & Peggy
So there you have it. Let me just take this opportunity right now to say we are DONE getting animals for a while. A good long while. At least, I think we are.

Having trouble keeping track of what all we have? I added an Animal Tracker to the right ===================>

**Never in all my days did I figure I'd be a pig owner. :) Who knew!