There was also a lot of fun

Lest you think the whole trip to my dad's was a disaster, I should share some of the good stuff...

I got to meet the two new alpacas. Dad and Wicked Good Stepmother now have 6 (six!) alpacas. The little guy is Max - he's a runt. Two years old, and looks like he's half-grown. But what he lacks in size, he makes up for in personality.

Here's my grandson (aged 2.5) 'reading' a story to his great-grandpa and the dog. (The dog was a little bewildered at being read to... She finally took refuge in Dad's lap, and little Mr. C followed along with his book, enjoying the larger audience.)


There were piggies to admire:

The boy was a good little helper, come chore-time. Though it takes a long time to fill a trough, a dozen kernels of corn at a time...

And he got to meet a pig up-close. (That's a very alert Great-Grandma hovering over him, ready to whisk him up and out of the way if the pig got grumpy.) Check out the bottom left corner of the picture - you'll see 2 very tiny piglets. My favorite was the pink one with freckles!

Alpacas are big fans of corn, as well.

The Divine Miss L, my granddaughter, stayed in the house - she'd spent a couple of weeks on the farm last summer, so doing chores wasn't near the attraction for her. She had happy Christmas loot to play with, which beat the pants off freezing outdoors.
Meanwhile, little Mr C was being followed by the paparazzi - his grandmother, mother, and aunt were all trooping along behind him with cameras...