These crazy little things called goats...

I saw this photo recently on the internet & I just could not believe my eyes! Yes we know goats are a little crazy...but this?

We initially didn't believe it - but after some research we can confirm that this does happen in a place just outside of Morocco. 

Isn't this just incredible! Here is the proof...click here to see this.
Goats in Trees

enjoy...

Glorious times with Goats

This week has been simply beautiful! A picture is worth a thousand words...

Summer has arrived, which means hot & sticky days :)  We have spent hours and hours outside everyday playing with the babies from next door. We were privileged to have Lulu & Sonny Boy stationed right up on our property, where we could easily play with them & also see them from our deck. 

The triplets seem to love "hanging out" with Lulu & Sonny & often try to take over Lulu's house during the hottest part of the day.

Pax & Edward having family time with the new baby

"Mum, they've taken over our house!"

It has just been too wonderful for words to watch all the babies playing on our lawn. Sonny Boy has stolen all of our hearts! Even Nick who is very reserved *adores* Sonny Boy & shares many cuddles with him.

Sonny Boy is finally looking like a healthy goat. He is a week and half old now & looks more like a new born kid. We have "given" him Seychelle's old clam baby pool, turned it upside down & this is now Sonny's playground to dance and jump about on. He is full of energy and runs all over the place & tries to keep up with the big boys (the triplets).

 

When the triplets were born 3 months ago, we thought we had won the jackpot with Pax.  Pax was the only kid we have had contact with that would willingly jump into your lap on his own! We were so priviledged with Pax & never expected to have so many wonderful cuddles with another goat. But we spoke too soon! Sonny Boy is even more cuddly. Right from the start he has been jumping into our laps and arms all on his own. He is an absolute joy & we just love this little guy!

Sonny Boy

Just as life was starting to get back to reasonably "normal" again, Lulu (goat from next door) gave birth to a beautiful baby goat kid called Sonny Boy!

I have waited almost a week to post on Sonny because there was a likelihood that he was not going to survive. Sonny was born extremely tiny! He was for sure a prem goat kid if there is such a thing. He is the tiniest goat we have EVER seen (and we see lots of goats here on Rarotonga). Sonny's nanny (mother goat) is just barely "out of nappies" herself.  Lulu (Sonny's mother) has only just turned 1 years old! Lulu's father got accidently entangled with her 150 days ago & so she got accidently pregnant. At that time she was only just 7 months. In all honesty we had thought that Sonny may have come out with 5 legs! But thankfully he was all perfectly formed.

Sonny was born very tiny, but his front right leg was bent in the most awkward position - it looked like it was broken or dislocated. Normally goat babies are up on their feet within 1 hour of being born. Sonny was still barely able to get up on his legs after 24 hours! He was still shaking, wobbling & then there was this bent leg. Long story short Sonny had contracted an umbiblical cord infection. This is an infection that affects the joints (normally shows up in the knees) and if not treated could lead to permanent damage to his mobility & possibly death. The Vets at Esther Honey (the volunteer run animal clinic) were outstanding! I called them one afternoon at 2pm, they were here within the hour to come and see Sonny Boy. They gave him a shot of antobiotics as the poor Sonny already had a high feve.

24 hours later Sonny Boy was a completely different goat. He was still fragile and tiny but he was attempting to jump & bounce around and was following his mama everywhere. He is an absolute darling! He is almost 1 week old and is starting to be very brave, even attempting to join his (half?) brothers on the lawn in our property. Lulu is the dearest mama goat! I had my doubts as she was still so young herself but she is gentle and so loving to Sonny.

Here are some of the first shots - check out his leg...it should be bending the other way.

Letter R - Crafts

Here is a picture gallery of Seychelle's beautiful crafts for the Letter R.
(See Part 1; Part 2;Part 3)

Letter R (Part 3)

To complete our fun week with the Letter R, Seychelle had some free time to do painting & we made some more Rabbit crafts, including one of a Rooster. Living in the Rarotonga we are completely surrounded by roosters, so it felt simply unfair to exclude them in this week's crafts.

So....we had great fun making a rooster too!

Letter R (Part 2)

This week part of our topic included discussing & playing a game about 'Feelings'.

This was lots of fun!
I used this lesson right after we had read the book, 'Guess How Much I Love You'.

The book briefly introduced the feeling of Love.  We briefly chatted about Love and how you can show someone you love them.

Letter R (Part 1)

This week we did the Letter R. Our topic was R is for Rabbit (& we also included an R is for Rooster craft).
We also spoke about 'Feelings' & what they are.

For 'R is for Rabbit', we had grand plans to read through a number of books (The Little Rabbit, The Velveteen Rabbit, Guess How Much I Love You & Peter Rabbit). BUT a new baby goat was born next door, so our plans were narrowed down to make room for spending time and observing the new baby kid. 

We started the week reading the book, The Little Rabbit.

Anatomy of a Rabbit
We spoke about the different parts of a rabbit - the long ears, pink nose, eyes (on the sides of the head, not the front) & legs (back legs are longer then the front legs).

Role Play
I put on some fun bouncing music & Seychelle dressed up like a bunny with some bunny ears from the dress up box.  She then played the part of a Rabbit, bouncing around all over the room & mimicking the different movements a Rabbit does: Nose twitching, sitting upright with her hands like a rabbits' & moving her head from side to side inquisitively. She had lots of fun with this!

We did a few Rabbit crafts this week.