Well whattaya know. It snowed today. Here I thought the weather was getting warmer. But then I was sitting on the bench with both goat kids in my lap and suddenly snowflakes started falling. Which made the little blackheaded kid whir her head around and sneeze. Too cute.

Very little snow though. Nothing that lasts.

And did I sit with both goat kids in my lap? Yes I did, I did. It was a happy accident. I sat on the bench with the blackheaded one. And then the brownheaded one succeeded in jumping up on the bench on her own. I’d seen her try a couple of times without luck. But this time she managed. And then she came over and said hello. She’s very curious, she’s started to climb up on me and nibble on my coat and so on. I scooped her up and placed her next to her sister and so it became that I was holding them both and life was good.

It probably won’t be long before they’re too big to be held together like that.

A video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KFe4C6TaEg. The kids on their first day outside. Jumping on the hay bale. Aren’t they just lovely?

Yes, they are. They are.

When I got to the playground today the road was lined with cars. For a moment I thought that the news of the wonderful goat babies had spread all over the country and people were flocking to see them. Then I remembered that the new Netto store opened today. A cheap supermarket. Sure, people will flock to see that. But you and I, we both know that goat babies are so much better than cheap shopping..

So, so much better. Yes, the kids are outside now. Yesterday was their first chance to see the intermittent sunshine and explore their newfound world. And let me tell you, there’s no greater joy than just watching them bounce around. With uncontrollable springs in their legs. Bounce-bounce-bounce. Like we were in one of those rubber castle things. Every time they hit the ground they are catapulted straight back up in the air. I almost thought I’d have to tie them down to prevent them from disappearing up in the sky and going into orbit. But then I realized I was being silly.

They really liked that bale of hay. I mean, really liked it. They kept trying to jump up on it. Sometimes succeeding, sometimes not. Sometimes they’d get halfway up and then fall back down on the ground flat on their tummy. And then they’d get up and whir their head around and try again. And when they get up on top they jump around and jump off and then try to jump back up. Top of the world.

It seemed to get Vanilje going too. She wanted to jump up on the bale. A pretty silly sight since she is practically bigger than the bale itself! But she did manage to get up and stand on it and wobble about for a few seconds before she had to jump down again. It’s a wonderful contrast though, the two kids so small that they can barely get up on top of the bale and then Vanilje (she’s a grown-up goat now, can you believe it?) so big that she can barely stay up there.

They are so lovely, aren’t they?

I like Desirée’s suggestion of Lakrids og Karamel as names. Liquorice and Caramel. If I get consulted on the names then I might just suggest those. Any other ideas?

It’s been a nice couple of days, sitting outside. Lots of people coming and going: Kids and adults. I get to talk and help a lot. It’s kind of draining but good for me too. There is especially one boy who I’ve gotten to know quite well. He’s 6 years old and his name is Saad. And he almost made me a little sad. He told me that he doesn’t like to go to kindergarten because no one wants to play with him. And that his friends aren’t nice to him. But he still seemed happy and outgoing. And he said that he liked me, that I was nice. “And now we’re friends, right?”. I’m happy to be his friend and give him some good experiences with the animals. He’s very good around the goats, not afraid at all. Even of Mads!

There he is. With an armful of goat. Definitely a good kid. It’s nice helping them out, sharing the wonder of the little, new goats. A mother and daughter came up to the fence at one point. I think they were speaking Polish. I dont know Polish, so I could be wrong. But the mother asked me, in Danish, if it was okay for them to see the goat kids. I though they wanted to come into the pen, but they staid at the fence. So I picked up little brownhead and went up to the fence. Held her out while the mother and daughter petted her and were happy. The daughter was sort of babbling in a mixture of (possibly) Polish, Danish and baby-talk. Very sweet.

Spot the goat kid! A silly picture, but just to illustrate that it can be hard to get good photos when your subjects are acting like they are on permanent trampolines.

There’s only one way to be sure to keep them in the frame…

Grab on and hold them tight! I could just sit there forever, holding them and feeling happy.

“Are you tired already? Come on, let’s go play some more!”

The sun was out quite a bit today. It was almost warm. If not warm then at least not cold either. And it prompted something rather special. Mads yawned. Not once. Not twice. But three times! I have never seen three goat yawns in the same day before. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, maybe they yawn all the time when I’m not looking. But three Mads yawns within the space of 15-20 minutes. That’s unusual. One of the yawns came when a mother and daughter were in the pen with me. Like the (perhaps) Polish mother and daughter they also came up to the fence. And the mother asked me how the goats would be around her girl. I said there wouldn’t be any problems and then they came in. The little girl went around and said hello to the goats and patted them. And they were watching me sit with and scratch Mads when he let out a giant yawn that made us all laugh.

It was nice sitting with Mads too. He obviously hasn’t been too pleased that I spent so much time with Magnethe and the babies. Now we were all out together I could sit with him and make him feel appreciated, while still watching the babies run around. Making sure that Mads knows that he’s still my number 1 goat. We had a really sweet moment, in between the yawns. He was lying down and I was sitting next to him. He put his head against me and I put my arms around him and hugged him. Normally he’s not too keen on being hugged, goats don’t like being restricted I think. If you try to pull them one way, they’ll drag in the opposite direction. But I think he was too sleepy to protest so I was able to hold him almost like I was holding one of the babies. One of the BIG babies hehe. And he was making sleepy, groaning sounds. I love those sounds.

He can be really sweet, yes. He can also be a bit of a grumpy, old man when the kids get too close. He’ll make his “get away, this is my hay/Plume/spot” noise and butt his head in their general direction. Which is usually enough to get them to bounce away to safety. Vanilje doesn’t mind them at all. Apart from when they get up on her hay bale! But she doesn’t butt them or anything. She’ll sometimes sniff at them, almost like Magnethe does.

One big, happy family. I wish it could last forever.

My thankyous go out to the Debster, once again. She sent me a very nice cap. So I am no longer hatless! I am actually considering using it, too. My hair is growing and blowing in the wind. Wearing a cap would be very handy. But I don’t like getting attention and wearing a cap seems like something that would attract attention. Silly maybe. Anyway, you know I am an aspiring model so here is a picture:

Pheasants forever!

I don’t know if I got it fitted right. But compare that to the out of control hairstack on the picture where I’m holding the kid. Much easier to manage. Or maybe just a haircut, I don’t know.

Ponder, ponder.