Hunt Club Farm

Summer is passing by so quickly and I feel slightly guilty for always dragging the kids to Target and calling it "fun time".  So this morning, I decided to take us on an adventure.  We did it all the time in Okinawa, but being back in the States, it's kinda slipped my mind.  Of course, to me, being in America is quite an adventure.  Did I mention I really like Target?

Remembering all the times we went to the petting zoo in Okinawa and how Mary loved holding (squeezing) the baby chicks, I thought I'd take the kids to a petting farm.  There's supposed to be a place close to us that has pony rides, but I think that's it.  The other place is out in Virginia Beach and it has tons of stuff...goats, lambs, llamas, chickens, turkeys, roosters, peacocks, ducks, rabbits, mules, ponies, and some of the worst smelling pot bellied pigs I've ever smelled.

I don't know what I was thinking.  It seemed like a good idea.  The kids were excited...until we got there.  Correction, they were excited until after I drove us 50 min. from home and I shelled out the $18 it cost for admission, a pony ride for Mary and a cup full of extremely expensive animal food.  At least I get to keep the cup.  Yea?  The second I paid, a cute little 2 month old goat (kid) came wandering up looking to snack (on food, not my children or parts of my children) and my kids freaked.  I should have known.

The only way I could get Mary to feed the goats was for her to pour the food on the table and run.  There was absolutely no way she was going to put food in her hand, even after I told her over and over and over that it only tickled while they ate.  Adam couldn't figure out how to pour it fast enough while simultaneously scaling my body like I was Mount Everest, so he chose to just watch...and whine.  Good times.  At least she smiled for the picture and scooted in closer...then ran again.

The highlight of the morning was the pony ride.  Thank goodness Mary had such a great experience riding Rocky last year, that she was really, truly excited about riding another pony today.  Thankfully, she did great.  Mr. Bucket was really sweet.

 Adam was just excited to sit in the shade away from any cute, hungry animals and enjoy some cold water and admire my new beautiful blue souvenir cup.

Here are some other pictures to highlight our adventure.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any of Adam being a whiny snotty mess, but he was.  I didn't take any pics of Mary crying or freaking out because a goat came within 10 feet of her, but she did.  Oh well, what's an adventure without some drama, right?

Have you ever seen an albino peacock?  Me neither.

Happy as a clam that they had a playground.

Those pigs really do stink!

One of the rare "happy" moments.  No animals around and we were on the way to see the ponies.  I love how they walk in step together.  

So here's what I learned today.  An adventure is an adventure.  Sometimes there are happy moments, sometimes there are snotty moments (literally, not referring to attitude, although I know that day will come), sometimes there are frustrated mommy moments and sometimes there are just 'scared of the unknown' little kid moments.  I have to just learn to accept them all.  And then there are the wonderful creative moments that happen spontaneously...

Coming home, taking a bath and then making our own petting farm in the playroom.

Priceless!