Several friends organized an excellent group trip to the local
farm (which apparently doubles as its own self-proclaimed county fairground). We even snagged an online coupon last week that cut the prices in half; hooray for family activities that are both fun and affordable! Meh was at work, but mima and I took the boys to meet up with friends K, J (and their girls N and A), and R and M (with their son J). The weather was looking a bit dodgy, but cleared in time for our arrival. Of course, there was certainly plenty of mud left from the rain, which wasn't lost on the boys or the other kids in attendance. We started at the U-Pick strawberry patch.
O mastered the picking part, but was living mostly hand-to-mouth; not much ended up in our cardboard box from his efforts. In the meantime, Z was happy mostly talking about the other people picking fruit around us. So it was mostly up to mima and myself to fill our box with yummy strawberries that we got to share with mommy for dinner this evening. After paying for our berries, we piled back into the car to head over to the amusement section of the farm.
Z had last ridden a pony here with mima and papa on his
day out with them last year, and he seemed to both remember and be eager to repeat the experience. O on the other hand was at first very interested in the ponies but then very shy when it came time to actually ride on one. Poor Pumpkin (yes, all of the ponies had cute names) was first declined by A and then by O, though he did at least briefly sit on her. Later he asked to ride "the green one" (which we figured out meant the one Zachary had ridden, who had a green blanket), but again shied away when it came time to board.
Still, he liked petting the ponies and talked about them "drinking lots of water" (he saw the giant troughs in each of their stalls). But clearly the sandbox diggers were more his speed.
We then rode the train on a loop around the farm (both boys again were quite pleased, check out Z's fabulous smile), which was fun even if occasionally interrupted by semi-creepy old mannequins staged along the side of the track, I think trying to imitate Disneyland animatronics. Anyway, then it was clearly time for lunch (as in, 10:30 am. Hey, when you're up before dawn...). We found some picnic tables in a large yard surrounded by climbable and only moderately hazardous old cars and buses. Before he took a bite, Zachary boarded the yellow bus and sat down as if waiting for it to take him to school for a few minutes before deciding he better drive it himself, and eventually giving up entirely and heading over to the classic fire engine.
The boys took frequent breaks from having their lunch to run around and on tractors, buses, and trucks, before Z jumped into the farm's a bouncy house and O visited some of the animals with mima. Then the rain came back and the boys were wiped, so we piled back into the car and headed back. All in all, a fabulous weekend activity! More pictures
here.
Several friends organized an excellent group trip to the local farm (which apparently doubles as its own self-proclaimed county fairground). We even snagged an online coupon last week that cut the prices in half; hooray for family activities that are both fun and affordable! Meh was at work, but mima and I took the boys to meet up with friends K, J (and their girls N and A), and R and M (with their son J). The weather was looking a bit dodgy, but cleared in time for our arrival. Of course, there was certainly plenty of mud left from the rain, which wasn't lost on the boys or the other kids in attendance. We started at the U-Pick strawberry patch.
O mastered the picking part, but was living mostly hand-to-mouth; not much ended up in our cardboard box from his efforts. In the meantime, Z was happy mostly talking about the other people picking fruit around us. So it was mostly up to mima and myself to fill our box with yummy strawberries that we got to share with mommy for dinner this evening. After paying for our berries, we piled back into the car to head over to the amusement section of the farm.
Z had last ridden a pony here with mima and papa on his day out with them last year, and he seemed to both remember and be eager to repeat the experience. O on the other hand was at first very interested in the ponies but then very shy when it came time to actually ride on one. Poor Pumpkin (yes, all of the ponies had cute names) was first declined by A and then by O, though he did at least briefly sit on her. Later he asked to ride "the green one" (which we figured out meant the one Zachary had ridden, who had a green blanket), but again shied away when it came time to board. 
Still, he liked petting the ponies and talked about them "drinking lots of water" (he saw the giant troughs in each of their stalls). But clearly the sandbox diggers were more his speed.
We then rode the train on a loop around the farm (both boys again were quite pleased, check out Z's fabulous smile), which was fun even if occasionally interrupted by semi-creepy old mannequins staged along the side of the track, I think trying to imitate Disneyland animatronics. Anyway, then it was clearly time for lunch (as in, 10:30 am. Hey, when you're up before dawn...). We found some picnic tables in a large yard surrounded by climbable and only moderately hazardous old cars and buses. Before he took a bite, Zachary boarded the yellow bus and sat down as if waiting for it to take him to school for a few minutes before deciding he better drive it himself, and eventually giving up entirely and heading over to the classic fire engine. 
The boys took frequent breaks from having their lunch to run around and on tractors, buses, and trucks, before Z jumped into the farm's a bouncy house and O visited some of the animals with mima. Then the rain came back and the boys were wiped, so we piled back into the car and headed back. All in all, a fabulous weekend activity! More pictures here.
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