A Manger, Bike Rides, and Chickens

Kenzie's been working on this 3-D manger scene for several days, now. Every time I turn around, I find cut-up paper or cardboard somewhere on the floor. This started with a few paper figures glued to the back of a box. Then she devised a way to make 3D figures and make them them stand up. After adding some angels and straw, she made the three wise men. Today, she added the animals and the doves. I don't know if she's done, yet. All of a sudden, my kids have become self-motivated in Art. This is a good thing, I guess, because they all start a weekly Art class, run by the county Parks and Recreation Dept., this coming Wednesday.
Today was the third day in a row that I got to go on a long bike ride. I can't believe this weather. The temperature, again, was in the mid-sixties, which is unheard of here, in January; forget about weeks on end of this mild weather! It's really hard to believe you folks out west are getting record snowstorms and all that ice! We live only a couple miles from the Bay, and a park that has lots of trails that almost nobody seems to know about. They are great for walking or biking through some woods and along the beach. The kids and I call it the Haunted Forest Trail. We go through 'Big Foot Forest', where we have to look out for Big Foot and his Ghost friends. From there, it's 'Pterodactyl Alley' (keep a watch on the skies, but you also need to keep watch for T-Rex). Next is 'The Marsh' where you might see 'Swamp Thing'. Once we get by him (or her, I could never tell the difference with Swamp Things), we come the 'Three Troll Bridges', where you have to go really fast over the bridges or they'll get ya (they are really slow trolls). Near the end of the forest, you have to watch the skies again, because the 'Giant Spiders', who lurk in the trees, might try to snatch you up for dinner. Then, leaving the forest, you have to pass 'The Black Lagoon', where the water really does look black. And we know 'The Creature' is just waiting for someone to stray to close to his water. Finally, we reach the spot of the above picture, 'The Quicksand', where wind has blown the beach over the path. I got stuck in it, so I took a moment to take that picture (only a brief moment, before I sunk too far).

Yesterday, I had all Alex, Taylor, Tyler, and Bekah with me. I'm pretty impressed that the twins can make that long bike ride. It takes me about an hour when I'm by myself. Today, Bekah and I were the only ones on the ride; she was in her perch on my bike, behind me. She only time she got impatient was when I stopped to talk to some friends of mine playing tennis at a recreational park that's along the trail.

Earlier today, Kenzie and I cleaned the chicken coop. That's one disadvantage to the warm weather: smelly chicken coop. I also finished up my new brooder. It's now all ready for the baby chicks when they arrive next month. I betcha that's when the cold weather will really hit: right when I'm trying to keep baby chicks warm, out in the chicken coop. Next, we need to expand the chicken run. We can start that once I get a few more fence posts and another roll of chicken wire fencing. Oh, and some bird netting might be advisable. I saw that nasty, chicken-eating hawk in the neighborhood again yesterday.