My Ass

This is Jake, the donkey. He lives at the Critter Barn, where I work, and he is a pure sweet heart. In the summer we let kids ride him. We have a little saddle and everything. Of course he loves it, because he gets to chomp on nice green and lush grass between kids turns. 

      We actually have two donkey's on our farm. The one with the red halter is Honey, and the one with the black is, of course, Jake. Jake is the sweetie, but Honey can be a little butt sometimes. She likes to nip you when you are not looking, and she is known for escaping.
      One time she actually escaped into the parking lot during an animal adventures class. Those kids are all 5 to 12 years old, but they are normally nearer to the lower age. Two of the kids had yellow shirts on, and so we think she thought they looked like corn and went after them. That sounds more awful than it really was, but to a 5 year old a donkey out of its pen can be scary. So Nate (who was teaching the class) got all the kids to go into a nearby horse trailer and stand in there while he caught Honey. Those kids will never forget that day, that's for sure.
      But besides that, she is not really All that bad. She is just a very energetic women. Now the two donkeys are just friends. Jake is a lot older than Honey is, so she is more like a daughter to him. Honey actually had a husband who passed away. He was a beautiful spotted donkey (that's not a type of donkey, it's just how he looked), and we even had a little donkey wedding for them. We wanted a baby donkey... but that didn't work out.
      Our donkeys are both Jerusalem donkey's. You can tell this by the cross on their back. I don't have a picture on it, but you can look it up, or even better visit the farm or another donkey in your area. Donkey's can carry twice their body weight. They each weight about 600 pounds, so they can carry up to 1,200 pounds! That is as much as a horse can carry. Donkey's are most commonly found in the middle east, because they can carry so much. Plus, since they are smaller than a horse, they are easier to take care of and feed.
      Another thing about donkeys is that they are very cautious about where they walk. Horses will just go anywhere, but donkeys will Not step on anything unless they are sure it is safe. So when we put a towel down on the ground in front of Jake and make him walk forward, he will either go around or step over it. He will never step on it. That's why people ride donkeys in the Grand Cannon, verses horses, because they have better footing. That's how donkeys got the reputation of being stubborn.
      That's just a few facts about our donkeys, and donkeys in general. I do hope you learned something new, or at least found something fascinating. Also if you are confused about the title, donkeys are also known as ass's :P Tricky play on words.

Osa

My cousins got a new puppy! Her name is Osa, and she is a golden retriever, and she is absolutely Beautiful.

It was her first day home, and she met so many new people because everyone wanted to see the new puppy, so she was pretty tired. She kept falling asleep. She especially liked her head on the table for some reason....

She is just too adorable for words. Look at that face! 

Small Things

      Yesterday, as I was coming out of my church, I was sitting in my car when I saw an elderly lady walk past my car. She stopped along the path and bent over (not very easily), to pull a weed from a flower bed.
      The fact that she would just do that. It's such a little thing, that really doesn't change much in the world, but it still shows that she is caring. One day I want to be like that old women. Either pulling out weeds, or picking up trash, just doing something small.

Cooper

      Remember Cooper? I did a bunch of posts way back when we first got him at the farm. I just wanted to do a small comparison to how big he has gotten.
      This is one of the first pictures I took of him. It was the first week he came to the farm. I'm pretty sure he was about three weeks at the time.

STOP! Don't scroll any farther until you read this: The next picture is of Cooper now. He is not even 6 months yet.....

      JUST LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE !!!  He has grown so quickly, so fast. He is almost 70 pounds now....

      The thing is. Cooper is supposed to weigh 200 pounds. He's not even half way!!!!!!!!!! He. Is. Going. To. Be. HUGE! :D I love this puppy to death (even if he really doesn't look like a puppy anymore). Cooper is probably the sweetest dog you will ever meet. I swear his only goal in life is to get as many belly rubs as he can get out of people. You come up to him and he will sometimes just lay down for a rub. Sometimes he is too smart for his own good :P 

Mario Cart

      I would like to start of by stating that I have the best school ever. Today was the last day for the Seniors - they get out of school two weeks early. Being the last day, means that it was senior prank day. They did the normal things like write on all the cars, and squirt people with water guns, and block off the parking lot. But there were a few things that really stoof out to me.
      The first one would be putting live gold fish in the guys bathroom. They clogged the sinks, and then filled them with water and put the fish in! I didn't personally see it, because it was in the guys bathroom, but I did hear about it. Clear idea if you ask me.
      The second one is my favorite prank of all time. I've been here for three senior prank days, and this is definitely my favorite one. It all started while I was sitting in math class. I had zoned out, so I was staring out the window, when suddenly I see a guy dressed as a gorilla chasing another guy holding a banana. Our class got a good laugh out of that one. After class was over I was walking through the hall until I came to a jam. Seniors were screaming for everyone to make a path, and so we did, backing up to the walls. At this point, no one had any idea what was going on. All of a sudden, a group of seniors come flying around the corner being pushed on wheelie chairs. Each of them on the chairs were dressed as a different mario caracter. They were having a real life mario cart race! Someone even carried a boom box with the mario music. Lets just say that it was a pretty epic and intense race. Our seniors are going to be missed.

They grow up so fast! *Sniffle*

From yesterday, the first baby's born on the farm of this spring, are exactly two months old.

In this picture there are a bunch of them drinking from a nipple bucket. They still all get milk 3 times a day at this point, but this is what we use at night. This way we don't have to do bottle for all of them when guests are not around. It. Is. So. Much. Easier. These are not all our baby's, some are in a different pen. We are still waiting on one more goat to birth. Our toggenburg goats are bred for June, and one of them (out of two) is pregnant this year. So one more baby to come at least. We are still waiting for a few lambs to pop on out, but those should be any day now.

Speed Chores!

      Tonight at the farm, we had a staff meeting that went until 5:30. I was the one supposed to be working, but I had to leave right at 6 because I had a choir concert to get to. This meant that I had exactly half an hour to get chores done for the night.
      This includes making sure EVERY animal on the farm had water. Most of the time you have to fill them to, especially at night. Thats probably the hardest and longest job on the farm. But thats not all, night chores also include feeding some select animals. Select meaning about half of them. I had three other volunteers to help me, but they were not exactly the most focused ones I have ever worked with. But they did help, which was appreciated.
      The four of us were zipping around the farm. I finished the last of the waters at exactly 6:00, I watched the clock change from 5:59 to 6:00. Everyone was fed, and everyone had fresh/clean/full water. Now let me just say here that - I Have Never Done Chores SO Fast. Half an hour, and with waters. If you have never been to the farm, that probably doesn't make sense, but waters take FOREVER.
      Lets just say that in the end, I was pretty proud of myself and my volunteers. I was out on time even. :) All that was left was for Mary to milk the goats, and give bottles later that night. She normally does those though, so it worked out perfectly. All in All, it was a good night at the farm. Pretty hectic  but it turned out just swell.

Update

      So Tulip Time has been over for a couple days now, and to be honest - I am glad. I love Tulip Time, but I was ready for it to be done. We had to dance twice as much this year because their are less dancers, so it was a lot. This also means I am going to be done posting about Tulip Time. I had plenty more ideas of what to blog about, but I kinda just want to move on. I might do one more post about my group later, but I kinda want to get back to blogging about the farm. I found that the farm is my favorite thing to talk about :) Not much a surprise there.
     Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you stay along for this wonderful journey called life that I'm on. (Cheesy endings.... :P )

Tulip Time | Boys

      There is not very many boys who Dutch Dance, and that is no secret. I heard there were about 3 this year, which is a pretty decent amount. Lucky for our group though, we have a boy! :D Adam is our resident boy. He's not the best dancer... but he is still a great kid! He's a bit awkward to be honest, but our group loves him all the same.
      Adam is not the most talkative kid, and he likes to pace a lot, so sometimes he seems distant. Although he is a freshman, dancing in a group of upper class men girls - who wouldn't be intimidated? By the end of tulip time though, he started to open up. He's actually a really funny guy, when he works up the courage to talk.
      The thing about Adam is that he was in the local paper, the Holland Sentinel. The Sentinel went around and asked different people, what their favorite Tulip Time moment was.
You can read all the other stories here: http://www.hollandsentinel.com/photo/x183057760/Word-on-the-street-05-13-13 

      This is how Adam answered the question: "Meeting all these great people I've been dancing with for a year now." Adam Zoerman, Holland
      Thats us :) To think that we actually impacted Adam... I'm glad. It took a while to get through to him, but he did finally start opening up at the end. He's kinda like our little brother, in a sense. Now I can't wait for next year!

Tulip Time | Tulips

Sorry the pictures are a bit blurry, that happens when I upload the pictures from my ipod... I'll make sure not to do that next time, I'm just too lazy to go change it now. These are just some pictures of the Tulips from this year. Enjoy :)

Tulip Time | Parades

      Parades are a huge part of Tulip Time in Holland. In all there are three parades, one on Wednesday which is just a typical parade, one on Thursday which is the children's parade, and one on Saturday which is the longest one. All of these pictures are from the children's parade, because that's the one I had my camera at.

      The different schools each have a sorta Dutch 'theme' that they represent and show with the kids. They march with their grades, and each grade has a different theme as well. Some carry flags, while others hold cut outs if Dutch foods. One school represents different Dutch books and stories. 

      Above is one of the floats that go in the parade. The Saturday parade has the most of them, and there are some in the other parades as well. 

      That's my brother marching in that band. I'm not in band so I don't have to march, but plenty of my friends do, so I like to go and watch. There are lots and lots and lots of different bands from all over west Michigan who come and march in all the parades. 

      I went to watch my little cousins march in the children's parade :) They are all so adorable. Who wouldn't want to march in a parade holding a cow! Or something else Dutch. 

      One thing I like about the parades is that we have half days for the first two parades. It's nice to be able to sit with my family and obnoxiously cheer at my family and friends.  

Tulip Time | Practice

      As mentioned in my earlier blog posts about Tulip Time, I am a Dutch Dancer. Now to learn that dance we have to practice, a lot. By a lot I mean that we have been practicing for twice a week since January. Yes, we practice for 5 months before we actually preform for a week. Practices really are not that bad, besides the fact that they are two hours before school starts. I am NOT a morning person, and so it isn't alway the best thing. But as bad as they sound, I sorta like practices. It's a time to just hang out with my group and they are pretty awesome. 

      About a month before Tulip Time we start to dance outside in our wooden shoes. I'm pretty sure that the people coming into school enjoy laughing at us dancing out in the parking lot. We even danced once in the rain this year. That's one thing about Dutch dancing, it doesn't stop for anything. I've done it out in snow, rain, the beating hot sun, and all sorts of whether. It's fun though, otherwise I wouldn't keep doing it. By the time Tulip Time comes around we are very prepared for dancing. We dance over 50 times in various places, not me personally but all us dancers combined. We are world famous after all. :) But more about Dutch dancers on another day, for now just appreciate all the hard work we put into learning the dance. 

Tulip Time | Wooden Shoes

One thing that the Dutch are known for are their Wooden Shoes.

Yes, those are my wooden shoes, and yes I have to dance in them. We (meaning Dutch Dancers) Always get asked about our shoes, whether they are comfy and what not. I have to say no, they are not comfy, but they are not as awful as they could be. Thats because we wear layers and layers of socks. I wear about 10 pairs of socks, but I have a friend who only wears 4 because her socks are super thick, and another friend who wears 20. You get used to dancing in them. For me the worst part is walking around in them. As a Dutch Dancer, if you have your costume on and you are out of your car then you must have EVERYTHING on; your hat, your shoes, and each piece of costume. 

So really they are not all that bad. It's kinda cool to say that I wear actual wooden shoes. Its not fun when it rains though, because the water soaks through. Thats why we Don't want it to rain during Tulip Time, it makes the streets slippery too. Each shoe is hand made, there are plenty of places in Holland that demonstrates and makes them. They are originally from the Netherlands, but they don't wear them there anymore. So thats a little info on wooden shoes for you. 

Tulip Time | A Bright Outlook

      On the way home from school tonight.... For anyone who lives in Holland, I take river street down through downtown Holland to get home. This means that I pass Centennial Park. Centennial Park is where Dutch Dancers dance most of the time, and where there are tons of tulips. So as I was driving past tonight, I could hear the music because I had the windows opened in my car. Just one group was dancing in the middle of the park, and as I got closer I saw a ring of people around them.
      When I say ring, I do not mean one line of people around the dances, I mean a mob of people around them. I have never seen to many tourists just watching one group dance. Normally there are a few groups of tourists and some families, but not an entire ring about 5 people deep! This tells me that there are going to be a LOT of people here for Tulip Time this year, which is good because it is the perfect year. The tulips are all out, and the sun is shinning. I really hope we have lots of tourists, because they are part of what makes Tulip Time so great. :) There is a saying that when you see someone going the wrong way down a oneway street in Holland, you know Tulip Time has started. (Downtown we have a Lot of one way streets, so it can get confusing.) Lets just hope the people keep coming and it shall be a good year. :)

Tulip Time | First Tulips

      These are the Very first tulips that I saw this year. I parked next to them on the first night I Dutch Danced, which was last week Thursday. Normally pink isn't my favorite color, but tulips are beautiful no matter what the color, or at least thats what I think. More and more are popping up each day!

Tulip Time

     If you are not from Holland MI, or from anywhere around there, you probably have no idea what Tulip Time is. I was born here, and grew up here my entire life, so for me - Tulip Time is part of my blood.
      For anyone that does not know, Tulip Time is a week in Holland where we celebrate our heritage and well Tulips! We are a Very Dutch community, originally from the Netherlands, and so that is where this tradition comes from. Tulip Time consists of parades, unhealthy fair food, time off of school, dutch dancing, tulips, tourists, windmills, and much more. If you don't know anything about it, I would suggest looking it up - or even better, coming! It's in the book 1000 Things To Do Before You Die, so its not just a little festival that only our town gives off. It is quite a huge event, and it is one of two places in the whole of America this goes on. The other is in Pella Iowa, which is another Very Dutch community.
     I wanted to just give you a little back sight for what Tulip Time is, because it just happens to be going on this week! This means that I will be blogging a lot about it this week. My goal is to post something everyday about Tulip Time, but we will see because it is a busy week as well. That is because I am a Dutch Dancer. Yes, we do have a traditional dance, and yes we have to were authentic costumes. It is pretty sweet. We have been practicing twice a week, before school, since January. So it is a pretty big deal. I will for sure be posting more about it later, since I dance at least once every day.
      Last year we had a stem fest, because all the tulips bloomed way too early. But this year they are PERFECT, which to be honest - is rare. Tulip Time officially started last Thursday, and kicked off this weekend but it goes on until next Saturday, which is the last day. So I have a full week of fun ahead.
      Side Note: If you have Any questions about Tulip Time, feel free to comment, I will make sure to answer.
      I hope you enjoy this coming week, I know I sure will. Go outside, enjoy the nice whether (if the whether is nice by you, which I hope it is). Spring is here, and in full bloom, so enjoy it! Also I hope you keep following along with my crazy and hectic week, and I will try my best to keep you updated on Tulip Time events and random things that happen :) Thanks for reading!

4n6

This past weekend, I was able to be a part of Forensics State 2013. (Picture of Team bellow)

      Your probably wondering what Forensics is, and no it is not going to dissect bodies or anything to do with science. Forensics is an acting competition. There are lots of different categories of what you can do, from telling a story to giving a speech on something you love. You can sell something, or act out a play/movie/book. The only things is, that you do it by yourself. It is a very independent thing. There are two categories that you can do in groups, one is Duo (which is two people acting out a play/movie/book.) and the other is Multiple (where you act out a play or a musical, usually with lots of singing.)
      This year I did Duo. Me and my partner preformed Steel Magnolias. We didn't make it to semi's or finals, but it was an amazing weekend all the same. The tournament lasted two days, Friday and Saturday. Friday we preformed all day, but Saturday we had some time too kill. Spring has finally hit West Michigan, and so it was one of the first nice weekends we had. We spent a lot of time outside. At one point, the people that I was hanging out with, we all decided to just lay on a hill in the grass and think. So we all picked a spot and laid down.
      I'm pretty sure that was my favorite moment of the entire weekend. Just laying there in the nice warm sun, with a slight breeze. I need to do that more often. I also later sat outside and listen to some music and read my book 'Way of Kings'. (Read it. Honestly, it is my favorite book. I'm on my second read through.) Another favorite moment was when we were randomly walking, and a group of us came upon a birds nest that was in the ground. The mother bird was not too happy,  but the baby's were adorable. :)
      Also at State, everyone was so friendly. I think that was the part that shocked me the most. As being an introverted person, I talked to a ton of people I barely new. So did the rest of the Forensics Team. On Friday night, at the hotel, we were all having devotions and each one of us went around and said a God moment we had seen that day. I think that made me realize that I need to keep looking for God moments in my life.

      Side Story, aka God Moment: (The picture of the sunset, is a picture that I took on the ride home from State. The sky was gorgeous  and the picture doesn't even do the whole thing justice.)
     That's what I wanted to do with this blog, point out God moments and little things I saw at the farm, but I think I can do even more. I can look at school, or on the car ride to somewhere, or when I am with my friends. So I hope that I shall be posting more, and more soon. Some about the farm (probably most of them, especially as summer comes), and some not about the farm. I have no clue if you (the reader), are a Christian or not, but even if you are not - I hope you can still enjoy these moments that make my life worth living.

Stupid Sheep II

Last night when I walked into the barn... BAMM! There she was... With her head stuck in the trough. Turns out my genius idea, was not as genius as I thought. Way to go Rachael.... Lets just hope she can keep it out long enough to get some water from time to time. *shakeshead* Sheep.....

Pig & Pig

      The other night we were having a staff meeting in the middle of the barn, instead of in Mary's basement. This happened because we had no one to watch the farm, so we wanted to be out there to help guests and watch volunteers. While we where in there, waiting for Mary to come out and start the meeting, two guests walked in carrying three things of apple juice. It was a man and a women, and I had never seen them before. 

      Our barn manager, Holly, recognized them though, they had come to the farm about a week before. The two where not from around here though. They said that they lived 2 1/2 miles away, on the other side of Michigan. They said that they were staying in Saugatuck (which is a nearby city) for a couple of days on vacation. When they stopped by the farm the second time with the juice, they were just on their way home again, but they wanted to stop by one more time. 

       What I find most interesting about this story is that they came on vacation to come to the Critter Barn. If you haven't guessed this is a married couple- I thought I should clarify. A little back story on the man; his nickname is pig. So according to the wife, "When we heard you had the oldest pig, we had to come to get a picture of pig with pig!" So they came out to see Mr. Chops. I did a blog post about him earlier, which you can read HERE. A little summary is that he is a pot-bellied pig who on July 16 will be the oldest pig alive. So this couple came out to see Mr. Chops. How cute is that? 

        When they stopped by, while I was there, they brought him apple juice. This is because we have a small sign about him and at the end it says, "If you want to help Mr. Chops, donate apple juice. He drinks it every night." So on their way out of town, they stopped by with some apple juice for Chops. Thats really helpful for us, because Chops does go through a lot of apple juice, and that stuff if not cheap. At a small non-profit every little bit counts. 

        So that is the story of the couple that went on vacation to see a pig. :) 

Sheep are Stupid.

      I'm pretty sure you have heard that assumption. It's less than an assumption, and more of a fact actually. Sheep are very stupid, and I can prove it too you.

Now this may just look like a normal sheep eating, but if you could have heard her screaming - you would think otherwise. She was screaming because her head was stuck. Again. 

Firstly: The holes on the feeder are not that small, none of the other sheep got stuck. 

Second: If you walked in the pen and pushed on the front of her head, it would pop out.

Thirdly: This was not the first time it would happen. Over the three hours on the farm, she got her head stuck over 10 times. Plus, we only noticed it when we walked back through and saw she was stuck again. 

     She would just sit there and scream. It wasn't hard to get her unstuck either. Animals are just dumb sometimes, or a lot of times. What it seemed like to me, was that she was trying to get some corn that was buried on the other side of the feeding trough. What you can't see in this picture is that there is a fence on the other side, so she was not just able to walk around. Thats why I turned the trough so that she could reach the other side. I had to leave soon after, so I was not sure if it was successful or not. She did go and eat on the other side when I turned it, so I hope it solved the problem. 

Sneaky Squirrel

We have been having a slight issue at our house this past week.
     There is a Black Squirrel (who is important enough that I capitalized his name), who has been sneaking into our garage. I have a rabbit and so we keep a tub of rabbit food, and some hay and such in our garage. Anytime we leave our garage door open, he will find his way in. I sat at my window one day and watched him do it.
     My mother is convinced he just sat in the tree and waited for us to leave the garage open and unattended. I'm pretty sure she is right. So that is why we set up a little trap. Now don't worry, we just wanted to capture him so we could transport it somewhere else - away from our house.
     In result, we did capture Mr. Black Squirrel. When I went to see, he was NOT very friendly.... I took a small video of him. Now note that he did this ANYTIME someone walked past, or even went in the garage. I didn't even know squirrels could make those sounds...

  

     To tell you the truth, I almost feel bad for the little guy. He just seemed so.... scared. At least he had some spunk.
    But you probably want to know what happened to Mr. Black Squirrel. Don't worry, I can tell you it has a happy ending. The night after we captured him, my brother and my father took Mr. Black Squirrel to a park that is a couple miles away from our house. We didn't want him finding his way back.
     But when my brother and father got to the park, they were not sure how to release the squirrel without getting bitten or attacked. Thankfully there was some nice old man that happened to be playing frisbee golf nearby. He was a hunter or something, so he opened the cage and let the squirrel go for my dad. So in the end Mr. Black Squirrel has a nice new home. I hope he finds a girl friend or something - as long as their baby's don't come near our house. He was too smart for his own good. Hopefully this solves our squirrel problem. So far, so good. No sign of any more squirrels in the garage.