And we will kill the old red rooster when she comes

My parents came to visit last weekend. It was short, but we packed a lot into a few days.

Along with the usual child wrangling and scenery viewing, there was a lot of fishing and seafood to be had.

And their time here just happened to coincide with the end of patience for our break of dawn crowing rooster. Bryce took matters into his own hands, and the whole process proved to be less dramatic, noisy and difficult than we had imagined. The kids watched the whole thing, and didn't seem upset, although Porter did tell me afterwards that he felt a little sad about the chicken. I told him I did too, and that was okay.

We cleaned him up, and made a fantastic rooster stew that very night. Despite rumors to the contrary, we found rooster meat to be delicious. I think the hens might be wondering what happened to their leader, but the vibe in the coop is decidedly more mellow.

We are trying to catch up on rest, cleaning and other vital chores now, but we all had a great time. And no one even had to sleep with grandma or wear red pajamas.