With the winter storm rapidly approaching, we expected a few days of rain & snow. We weren’t disappointed. On & off rain started sometime overnight. We woke up to 53 degree temps, but the cold front started to drop the temps before breakfast was done.

As much as everyone wanted to get out to explore the farm, we finished our daily allotment of school. Tanya taught the kids for most of their school day, but needed to get to a chiropractor again to help with her back. I took over for the last bit of school. I was the math guy today. We rounded numbers like mad.

I haven’t really talked about how we’re able to be on this big road trip with school requirements for the kids. The twins went to a brick & mortar Pre-K school, but Tanya’s been homeschooling them ever since. A big portion of the travel trailer’s bunkhouse is dedicated to school curriculum & supplies. We also bought dedicated school laptops for each of the twins before the trip. Coupled with our OTR Mobile unlimited internet hotspot, they’re able to do all of their online learning in addition to their book & workbook learning.

The weather progressed from drizzle to a pretty good rain as the temperatures dropped throughout the day. That didn’t stop us from introducing the twins to one of the many things that I remember from the farm as a kid – BB guns!

I remember exploring the farm as a kid and learning the ways of the BB gun. There’s an amazing amount of plinking you can do on an 80 acre homestead surrounded by hundreds of acres of farmland. As part of our Amazon Christmas in Salt Lake City, I bought each of the kids a Daisy Model 105 Buck BB gun. It’s pretty much a small version of the Red Rider and it fits our twins perfectly. I, of course, had to buy something for myself, so I picked up a Gamo WildCat Whisper pellet gun.

Grandpa Jay and I used the kids’ previous archery experience to teach safety and shooting techniques. I started saving Coke cans about a week ago – the best BB gun target ever. Cameron & Sophia both did a great job poking all kinds of holes in Coke cans (and getting tons of mud on their shoes). Sophia even hit the can 4 out of her 5 first shots! Like her mom, she’s apparently a natural.

Here’s Cameron plinking a can…

And here’s Sophia…

Here’s video of Sophia’s first shot.

Jay & I took advantage of a few breaks in the kids’ shooting to put a few pellets through my Gamo WildCat. I’m not sure why they decided to add “Whisper” to the name – it’s definitely not quiet. It does, however, seem to shoot really well. Pellets were flying so fast, the cans didn’t have time to fall over.

We called it quits on the shooting about sunset and had a great Taco Tuesday dinner…on Thursday. After dinner, we played Jenga and did a puzzle. The twins also tried to convince Grandpa Jay to play Minecraft with them.

It looks like the temps tonight will dip to right around freezing. It hasn’t snowed yet, but we’re expecting some tomorrow. I’m pretty certain you can still shoot cans with BB guns in the snow.

Our first day on the farm was great: family, good food and new experiences. We’re all looking forward to more!