After about 30 minutes of trying unsuccessfully to get out of the house (changing diapers, forgetting items, motivating people to get changed) we were finally on our way by 9:30. It took us long enough to drive away that I entertained the notion of bagging on the whole trip and just staying home, but thankfully I stuck with the plan.
It ended up being a perfect day for a farm visit. Warm enough so that walking around in short sleeves was comfortable; not so hot that you couldn't get withing 20 yards of the animals for fear of their stench (the pigs, however, challenged this description). The farmyard portion of Drumlin is arranged in a small loop, so we were able to take a nice walk around and see chickens, pigs, goats, cows, sheep, and various other farmyard denizens.
Andres had a great time at the Philly Zoo when we visited a few weeks ago. And he has always loved animals, so he was bound to have a great time at the farm. (I'm not yet sure if Celia likes animals or not; I know she loves her brother, and he can be an animal sometimes, so perhaps she had a fun time today too. She slept in the stroller for the first 30 min and then rode in the Bjorn afterwards.) He kept asking "where are the animals?" when we were in the parking lot, and then ran to meet the sheep when he first saw them:
He was very interested in the pigs as well:
No visit anywhere is complete without at least one father-toddler tete-a-tete, and today was no exception. Andres seemed most interested in the non-animal-related games and activities at the farm (including riding on an old tractor, playing a game where you measured the size of eggs, and then digging in a pile of dirt...yes, just digging up dirt and putting it back) and was quite astonished when I suggested that maybe we should move on and do something else. I saw a few other parents dragging their toddler boys (always boys!) kicking and screaming away from these activities, so I didn't feel too bad when I was forced to resort to the same tactics. He calmed down quickly though and was able to find other things to hold his interest. Celia just looked on quietly...I'm convinced that someday in the future, perhaps when she is a teenager, she is going to turn to me and say "remember all that time that I was perfect when you were chasing Andres around? Ok...I'm cashing that in." Gulp.
We were all on our last legs when we made it back to the car (at 12:30 no less! I was exhausted, even though the day was only 6 hours old). Andres was kind enough to give a semi-lucid recap:
Both he and Celia were asleep 10 minutes later. Yay, peace and quiet.
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Glad you and the kids had a lovely morning at the farm!Try Elm bank for a good nature walk and a terrific kids play area complete with big sand pit(BYOT) and climbing rocks. xoxo Nana
ReplyDelete>>"remember all that time that I was perfect when you were chasing Andres around? Ok...I'm cashing that in."
ReplyDeleteHa! Either that or you get the awesome phase we have right now "What? Did you just tell my big brother not to do THAT? Well, I'm going to do it too, and even MORE!!!"
Second the recommendation for Elm Bank, it's lovely (and a good place for beginning trike/bike riders when you get to that point).
Elm Bank may be in the works for next week...I'll have to see what the precipitation gods bring us for weather. I am liking my "Let's-go-somewhere" Wednesday trips; I'll have to keep this up throughout the spring when I go back 60%.
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