A very busy day .. but a lot of fun !

Breakfast at the yurt camp

Last night we had the yurt all set up and ready for the kids from one of the orphanages.  They got in late after a big day in Bishkek.  

some of the kids settling in for the night 

after breakfast they all went for a walk in the mountains 

the first craft was a foam boat 

everyone made one and decorated it 

then went to the water trough to try them out 

next up was a game of frisby Kuk-baru  a knock off of the goat pull game but no horses and frisbys instead 

lots of fun and burned off a little more energy 

the next craft consisted of 15 little items that the kids put in a bottle with seeds, then on the lid they tied a list of the items to find .. the cool thing is that the list is in Kyrgyz Russian and English 

it kept the kids busy for a long time 

then for lunch we had hotdogs on the fire 

at the same time we had the horses for horse back rides .. 

I only had 10 hot dog sticks made u so we were busy restocking them, and the horses kept the pressure off the food 

I think Yuri had about eight of them 

After the horses and lunch Vladic did some allusions for the kids 

then it was back inside for another craft 

It was nice to see Nuric take such interest in his 

everyone loved this soo much 

Next we took the kids fishing to catch supper 

every one caught a fish 

We have gotten so much use from the Berkeley fishing equipment that was donated to us by Berkeley last year 

then it was back to the farm to have a shore lunch and to pick corn 

Isar was the cook today .. He did a great job 

then sat down and ate with the kids . 

  At the end of the day we walked down to the corner to check out the playground that the farm is sponsoring for kids in the village .  

This is the only playground in the village ,and the kids loved it , It was neat to see word spread and kids come running out to see . 

At one point we counted 14 kids on the slide at once.

I have a small catalog  that has a hole bunch of other cool playground equipment ranging in price from $100 to $1000 .  the prices all include instillation and delivery . so the hope is that this is the center piece and slowly we are able to build and expand the playground around it .  So when things slow down here I will post the information in case someone else wants to sponsor a new piece ..

a few highlights from the last few days

A few more very busy days .. Today Hanna was out posing on the tractor but had a hard time keeping a strait face with the turkey making a fuss behind her . 

We had a beautiful day at the lake yesterday .. great company, a great view, great food , and a great sleep on the beach. 

A couple days ago we put up the second yurt to be ready for today.  We have one of the orphanages joining us for a stay in the yurt and a day of crafts . 

After work a couple days ago we decided to do a little fishing on the way home from the hot springs  Hanna got a huge rainbow trout.  

We got the beds all assembled and ready for the kids 

New arrivals on the farm.

a few days ago we had five baby ducks born on the farm .  their mother would not take them so they were living in the most high traffic area in the farm and loving the attention .. where ever the excitement was they were in the middle.  

This morning we had another 7 babies born.  This mother is much more attentive, so I tried introducing the five, and they ran right into the mix and all is well, except that this mother does not think it is such a good idea that the babies play in traffic.  .  

this mornings winner of the great fly swat challenge was Dustan 

We hd a group of guests come to the farm today.  They are a team of Dr's and dentists that have been running clinics in Kyrgyzstan .  Today was their last day so they cam for a visit an a day in the mountains .  

Talgar came and brought his new eagle with him 

every one that wanted got a turn holding the eagle 

 then they put on a hunting demonstration for us.   The whole time, we had 4 horses available for people to take turns riding . 

After the guests left, we picked produce and put together food hampers to deliver to families in need .  The world really is a difficult place for some people .. i makes us so thankful for all that we do have .  

on our way home we passed through the strawberry fields , so of course we had to stop and get some for desert .. absolutely nothing like them .

As I am writing this, Julie is waiting to board a flight in the Paris airport then on to Bishkek with a connection in Moscow.  They have been there for 6 hours with still another six hours to go.  But she did tell me that her bags have been checked right through to Bishkek, and the connection was very smooth.

Tomorrow we will be working up at the ranch putting in a patio for the new yurt coming the next day .