Weekend Update and Oreos

We are home from a very memorable opening weekend at the deer lease. The deer hunting wasn't great but we had a lot of fun anyways. Both kids are old enough to LOVE the deer lease and they made sure to maximize their time there. They went on walks, dug in the dirt, and played in the trailer until we forced them to bed. They were happy, filthy, and exhausted at the end of each day. We shot 4 pigs, had a pig-pickin' (see previous post), and had s'mores at the campfire on Saturday. Sunday was more hunting and playing and relaxing. On Monday, Jeff and John filled the feeders while I went for a 6-mile run around the lease. It was my best run ever. It was quiet, beautiful, tough, exciting...and I felt great the entire time. I'm definitely going to want to run out there when possible because it's just gorgeous on foot. While we were doing all that and for most of the weekend during the hunts, the kids were back at camp with Nana/Susie/Jeff's mom. She's so sweet to come to the lease (not her favorite place on earth) to keep the kiddos while we go hunting. Jeff and I are grateful and hope it's worth it to her. When Jeff and I are there with the kids, we just take turns hunting. I go out in the evenings and he goes out for the morning hunt. It's a good set-up that we both find agreeable, but we much more enjoy hunting together. Grandpa/John, Jeff, and I took Addi out for her first "official" hunt on Monday morning. She got up early with us and was super excited about going out. She REALLY wanted us to shoot something but alas, nothing came our way. Maybe next time.
Addi's first hunt:

She lasted about an hour in the stand while we watched a hawk eat a rabbit and talked about the trees and the sunrise. When she got restless, we got down and went for a walk. John taught her how to identify animals by their droppings and tracks. I'm proud to say that my 3 1/2-year-old daughter can identify raccoon poop, coyote poop, deer poop, and cow poop. She can also identify the tracks of raccoons, deer, cows, birds, and turkeys. John taught Addi another important skill on that walk: how to build an "Indian house" by standing and stacking rocks in a fresh cow patty. I know, gross, but so cute and she loved it. Nana later tweaked the skill by using a mound of dirt instead of manure (yea!!) and everyone was happy.
Camp fun:

If you look closely at Jackson, you'll see that he is filthy. Addi put sand on his head right as we were about to get in the car to head home. Obviously, I didn't take the time to wash it out then (he got a bath shortly after this pic was taken). His hair looked red and his face looked like he had a mask on, but he wasn't complaining. BUT I didn't snap this picture to show how dirty my kids are. It is to mark the monumental occasion of Jackson's first (known) Oreo cookie. Let me tell you, the boy is smart. He scraped all the icing off with his teeth before he at the cookie part. He knows how to eat an Oreo!

And last, here are pics of the kids getting their hair cut last week. They sat so still, sucking on a Dum-Dum sucker while Miss Kathy went to town.