Down on the Farm

This morning McKinley and I visited a farm on our play date with Kylie & family, Robin & family and a few other friends and kiddos. We drove into the country to the home of The Wrightsman family. Of course, it was raining...but we were prepared! McKinley had his rain boots on and was so ready! We did have to patiently wait inside the house for a little while, but eventually the rain let up a bit. The kids headed out to pick some corn to feed to the horse, then we headed out to the fields of animals. The horse was a wee bit intimidating for the kids and most of the ears of corn were tossed just inside the fence. The horse did not care! It was a real treat for her to get more than one ear of corn per day and so she happily chomped away, oblivious to the children standing around her, mesmerized.

Then everyone stepped inside the chicken coop. WOW! Turkeys, baby chickens, big chickens! EVERYWHERE! All of the children took right to feeding them, so excited! I looked away for just one second, turned back around and McKinley was fully-engulfed in feeding turkeys that were nearly as tall as him. I briefly thought to myself...huh! there IS some of me in him! I mean, you wouldn't know it by looking, but I grew up in the COUNTRY. We didn't have farm animals, but my grandparents owned farmland, my parents and I lived on 3 acres of beautiful country with a HUGE red barn, a little creek running through and wild animals abounding. It was a great upbringing and I treasure beautiful memories from it. I loved playing outside at my grandparents home and getting to do things like gooseberry, raspberry and blackberry picking. Anyway, there's my boy...clearly enjoying every second with these animals.

Soon it was time for the highlight of our visit...the alpacas. We've been around alpacas before at St. Mary's, and knew they are kind animals, so I was so excited. I actually stood eyeball-to-eyeball to them! We went INSIDE their little field and were standing next to them. Those alpacas RUSHED to the children (who were holding big buckets of feed), but they were so gentle and a bit taken by their little feeders. I got some amazing pictures of the whole thing, but I LOVE this one...this little girl stood and looked right at my camera! FUNNY!

And the look on this one's face...I couldn't stop laughing when I downloaded these photos!

After we were finished feeding the animals it began raining again, so we went inside to see if the chickens had laid any eggs...and they had! So each child got to collect an egg for their very own. McKinley was thrilled with his pick...and even more thrilled that Savannah placed her egg inside his bucket. He was so careful with them! Precious.

The day wasn't over yet! We took our eggs and moved onto the pear orchard where each child picked some pears to take home. The rain continued and the kids were hungry, so we went inside where the farm owner fed the kids pbj's, fresh eggs and cookies.

Can I just say how well McKinley napped? Frankly, me too. I don't often nap but man! Between the cool, rainy weather, the early morning drive and all the events piled into two hours on the farm, this mama was POOPED!

We had such a great time and were so thankful for the invitation. McKinley learned a lot and enjoyed his time with his friends...new and old...furry, feathered and otherwise. Despite the rain and the first real day with a fall chill in the air - it was perfect.

Lynn