With a moo-moo here and a moo-moo there...

On Friday we saw some cows.

As the kids and I sat on the hay ride that toured a litte dairy farm in east Mesa, I realized that I used to do stuff like this all the time. Zachary and Tyler went on a million "field trips" when they were little. We had a zoo membership and passes to the children's museum, rode the light rail "just because," visited the coast, picked berries and apples and pumpkins, participated in play groups and babysitting swaps, and even did a school co-op one year. What happened?

Of the four kids, Gavin and Lexi had the best time. They were absolutely enthralled with the animals. As Lexi sat on the hay ride, she pumped her legs and waved her arms, pointing to the cows and babbling in very excited gibberish. Gavin sat quietly and stared. Clearly, this captured his interest!


We learned a lot about dairy farming and cows and milk. I had special compassion for the cows in the "maternity ward" who were due to deliver babies within the next ten days. I was a little disappointed not to see a baby calf during our visit.



After the hay ride, the kids enjoyed petting, brushing, feeding, and holding some farm animals.


Then we had ice cream make from milk collected on the farm. The Littles each had strawberry (boy was it yummy), while Zach, Tyler, and I enjoyed sugar cookie-flavored ice cream.


The tour guide (who was also the owner of the farm) cooled off the kids with the spray of a hose. The kids got soaked and the mist felt glorious. It was just what we needed before getting back in the car.


We enjoyed this little adventure because of my high school friend, Christa Johnson, who recently moved to Mesa, too. I didn't get any pictures of us together. Maybe next time!