We’ve really been looking forward to Tigerlily’s kid(s) this year, but unfortunately it’s not to be. She miscarried on Sunday and passed a single buckling on Tuesday morning. She was a month early. I’m not sure what to do with this gal. I think she’d been fighting too much with the other goats. They weren’t picking on her–she was deliberately provoking goats higher in the pecking order and kept getting whacked, so I have secretly been a little worried about her pregnancy. It’s disappointing, but she seems to be fine and isn’t mourning or acting “off” so I think all should be well. I’ll have to train her to pull a cart this summer so she has a job. She’s big, strong, athletic, and flashy so she needs to do more than just eat all summer.

Phil and I had fun this past weekend on a whirlwind trip to Kansas City and back. Phil has been collecting marbles since the first year we got married and on our goat vacation last fall we stopped in Bonner Springs, KS and visited the Moon Marble Company. It was a fascinating stop and we found out about a marble show they were hosting in March. We decided to take a peek.

Meanwhile, I’d had my eye on some miniature horse carriages at Frontier Equestrian in Jasper, MO–about two hours south of Kansas City. I thought if we brought Finn and Sputnik we could hit up the carriage shop after the marble show and test drive a few wagons. The little garden cart was perfect for training, but it’s woefully small for such big goats and it only fits one rider at a time.

While Phil entertained himself at the marble show, I took the boys out to a local park and spent the day hiking around. It was not a very interesting park, but it was quiet so we got in a lot of off-leash walking.

There were playgrounds scattered all over the park, and Sputnik and I amused ourselves by jumping through the swings. If I point Sputnik at a jump, he flies over it. He also leaped over park benches (without stepping on the seat), barriers, and a tall, narrow bouncy horse. Finn is a far more talented jumper than Sputnik, but he generally preferred not to try. I think he was sulking a bit without Phil there. Finn acted terrified of the swings and it took me a little time to convince him to leap through them. Eventually he got the hang of it, but he showed no enthusiasm for this “pointless” activity so I didn’t make him do much. Meanwhile Sputnik was begging for more. He likes pointless activities if they involve cookies!

This pointless activity, on the other hand, amused Finn to no end. We found a set of elevated “stepping stones” on springs. Finn made a beeline for them and didn’t want to get down. He stood on one and spun circles, walked across all three, turned around, and walked back. Sputnik walked over them too but was less enthusiastic, especially since Finn kept knocking him down to take his place. I had to tie Finn out of the way so Sputnik could even try.

“Yeah, I’m awesome!”

There were some boys in the playground who were quite impressed with the goats’ obedience. I was wearing my army jacket that day and one of the boys asked, “Are those military goats?”

Sputnik was standing on a park bench with Finn in front of him and I was hoping to get a photo that made it look like Sputnik was standing on Finn’s back, but it didn’t quite work out that way. My goats are too tall!

The marble show lasted two days, and on the second day I took the boys walking on the Indian Creek trailway that runs for over 20 miles around Kansas City. We only explored part of it of course. There were more people there than at the park so I spent more time stopping to explain why I had goats parading around the city on leashes. Finn and Sputnik were very well-mannered for all of it so it was quite a pleasant day. Thinking back, a walk like this would have been miserable just two years ago. I’d have had a terrible time trying to control both of them by myself, and I’d have had to deal with balking, spooking, bolting, fighting, and trying to go back. Our boys have come a long way in their training. They walk nicely beside me so I can hold a leash in each hand without fussing. They obey voice commands very well, so if one needs to speed up or slow down I can control him with a word and a slight tug on the leash. They don’t balk or spook at dogs, bikes, baby strollers, sirens, or blowing trash. Well-trained goats are such a joy to walk with and I don’t think I realized how good our boys have gotten until that day. Training takes time and progresses in baby steps. Sometimes it’s hard to see those small improvements until one day you suddenly realize how good your goats are–that they finally feel like they’ve “arrived”. Cuzco had good leash manners and I sometimes lamented that Finn and Sputnik were a lot of work compared to good old Cuzco. Now Finn and Sputnik are better behaved than Cuzco was!

On Monday we stopped at Frontier Equestrian in Jasper, MO.

What is Finn staring at?

Whoa! Two life-size Shire horse statues stood guarding the store entrance and Finn was rather terrified of them. They horses seemed a bit suspicious of him too.

Sputnik didn’t notice them until I walked him right up under their noses. Then he looked up and went “Oh my!”

The store didn’t open until 11:00 so Phil and I had almost two hours to burn. Jasper is a small town that appears to be slowly dying. There was no one on the roads so we walked up and down the streets with our goats off-leash.

My two horned boys.

Some people keep giraffes in their yard instead of goats.

I think this Jasper monument is enhanced by the addition of a large, noble goat.

When the carriage shop finally opened we test drove several models. This one was lighter weight but it just didn’t cut it. Too low for one thing, and it had no suspension for another. There was also something not quite right with the team pole and doubletree. We decided to pass.

We settled on this two-seater. After we tried it with two goats, I hitched up Sputnik to see if he could manage it by himself. He had no trouble working up a good trot. I need to shorten the shafts a bit, but they’re the perfect width and height for a goat. This carriage has good suspension and is a very smooth ride. I can’t wait to try it out next weekend! I have to make a yoke for it first. I think we’re really going to enjoy this little wagon! It would even look good with a four-in-hand should we ever have enough goats.

We took the boys shopping over the weekend. Here’s a sneak peek at what we brought home!

My apologies… some of these are a bit redundant, but Finn is particularly photogenic and it’s hard to quit clicking the camera when he’s posing.

They love those pine trees! A funny thing that happens during every walk is that Finn or Sputnik will rear up and stand on a branch to eat, which bends it way down. As soon as the shorter goats see Finn or Sputnik on a tree, several of them will usually race over and reap the benefits, so I don’t often see just one of them going at it.

I love the dusting of snow on his back

Much like Cuzco, Finn is gorgeous and he knows it.

The beauty of this place sometimes takes my breath away.

“Hi Sputnik!”

I love that dinosaur profile of his! Just look at the size of that Roman nose!

“Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up!”

“Close enough! Close enough!”

We had some more snow the other day and boy did it get cold this time! The babies love the snow and don’t seem to be bothered by the temperature drop.
“Chase Uncle Finn down the hill–Wheee!!!”

Rambo looks like he belongs on a Christmas card!

Little Coral was sure feisty yesterday! She tried to pick fights with everyone, but most of the goats weren’t having it. This little fuzzball showed up pregnant on her blood test, so she’s expecting kids in June!

The babies have discovered the joys of leaping onto rocks.

I’m not sure what got into TinCup, but she sure looks excited!

And in other news, Tigerlily is definitely starting to show. Look at that belly starting to droop! She’s expecting kids around April 10th.

Ladies at the salad bar.

Blackbird shows up good against the snow!

“Run faster, Skeeter! Get those ears flapping and maybe you can fly!”

Little tracks and big tracks.

Mmm… loose minerals.

A brief father and daughter moment before Petunia turned around and whacked him away. I love that my bucks are gentle with babies. Neither of them has tried to do more than sniff curiously at them, but mama is suspicious.

When mama wasn’t looking, Blackbird and Skeeter introduced themselves formally to Daisy. You can see the worried look on Daisy’s face. She adores baby goats, but Petunia has been protective of these two and has swatted Daisy and Pluto for looking too close.

True love. Mama isn’t around and Daisy’s in heaven. Look at that tail!

I have to say, of all the babies we’ve had around here, we might be having the most fun with these two. For one thing, these are the first kids that have not once pottied in the house, which means they get to come in the house a lot! We’ve had them in almost every night since they were born so they could sit on the couch and watch movies with us. They love this couch now, and lately they’ve taken to bouncing on it while we’re fixing popcorn or whatever.

I have to post these two pictures together. This is me and Skeeter the other night.

And here’s me and Sputnik almost four years ago.

I love how baby goats are almost fluid in their ability to curl up with their heads flopped over. It looks like Phil has a rag doll goat on his lap!

The kids came up to the office the other day to help Phil in his work. Blackbird mostly wanted to help eat my chair. Gotta start these kids early if they’re going to grow up properly! Can’t have a goat that doesn’t chew everything in sight–it just wouldn’t be a real goat!

“Let me up?”

How many goats are on Phil’s lap? Can you spot them both?

The problem with Skeeter is that she’s so darn flashy she drowns out her rather more beautiful black sister. But you gotta love that eager little face!

If I didn’t know better I’d say this was one of Sputnik’s baby pictures!

I am beating myself over the head for not remembering to grab the camera today. We got about six inches of snow last night and the babies were absolutely thrilled with it when we took our afternoon walk. I wasn’t sure if Petunia would bring them because of the snow, but she wanted to go walking herself and by golly she wasn’t going to stay behind to watch kids! Time for these babies to toughen up and march even if the snow is over their knees!

They loved it! The spent most of the walk bouncing, leaping, cavorting, and racing through the new powder. They got snow dumped on their heads when they stood under the trees where the big goats were pulling down pine needles.

At one point Blackbird raced ahead with Finn and Sputnik when they took off from the herd to stage a little sparring match. She got in their way and both boys stopped their fight and stared at Blackbird who was staring back at them. Finn showed her his horns but Sputnik gently nudged her away with his nose before resuming their argument on a gentler scale. Both kids were tired by the end of the walk and I’ll bet they sleep good tonight!

Finn, beautiful as always.

Sputnik just as beautiful.

But they’re more beautiful together, don’t you think?

Apparently they find each other attractive too.

“We interrupt this bromantic moment to bring you some baby goats!”

“Uh, did we sign up for babysitting duty?”

“Ok, that thing seriously looks like my mini-me with Sputnik’s face on it. Weirdness.”

“I take no responsibility. I’m outta here, folks!”

Despite Finn’s reluctance to associate himself with this crew, you can see the family resemblance. Petunia is Finn’s older half-sister, and she is also Sputnik’s mother. So that makes Sputnik the older half-brother to these new doelings and Finn is the monkeys’ uncle.

“Look at that there big goat, Blackbird!”

I think she feels safer on the stump.

Now it’s Skeeter’s turn to be brave.

Nope, this one feels safer on the stump too!

Petunia and Sputnik have always been very close. I love how she’s using him for a headrest in these shots.

“Mama, I saw you use Sputnik for a pillow.”

“Can I use you for a couch?”

“No! A pillow is good enough for anybody.”

All right, now you’re going to have to indulge me as I took WAAAYYYY too many pictures yesterday. But it was such a beautiful day and the kids are now so bouncy and curious and fun but still tiny and cute and soft. It’s hard to put the camera down.

They’re going out with the herd now. The first few times we walked, Phil and I had to carry the kids part of the way. Not any more!

It’s hard to see in the melee, but take a look at Sputnik introducing himself to Blackbird on the rock. She was terrified of that big boy and immediately jumped down and ran to mama, but he was only curious and quite gentle.

“Wait for us!”

“We’re coming!”

“Mama just isn’t fast enough.” Look at that tongue hanging out–I think Petunia is tired from keeping up with kids all week!

Is this the caprine equivalent of a water cooler moment?

Gotta love those airplane ears!

Racing babies!

I love sweet mama-kid moments.

Does this little gal look like a Finn/Sputnik mashup or what?

Oh good, they figured out how to use both sides.

I love that Skeeter prance!

Meanwhile, Blackbird practices balancing on three legs on two different rocks!

She’s black velvet, folks.

In sync.

Whether you’re eating them or standing on them, stumps are the best!