Friday, August 29, 2008

A Day with Friends

I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for
that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy.
Let's face it, friends make life a lot more fun.
~ Charles R. Swindoll

A few days ago I had the pleasure of getting together with two great friends. We met each other when we were all still teaching and as fate would have it, we all decided to become stay at home moms to our boys who are now friends. Since then, the three of us have also added daughters to our families, and like the boys they are also close in age. We are all in the same playgroup, but with busy summer schedules we haven't gotten to spend much time together in the last few months. So, we planned a trip to take the kids to a local farm which is run by the state park service.

The boys were instantly excited as the first animals they saw were cows. They were able to get up close and personal with a few of them since they were happily lounging in the shade.

What could three boys possibly be looking at down in the grass? I know I don't have to tell you that.

A surprise came when a ranger pulled up and as he did this large momma cow got up from her resting position to reveal a calf. The female calf had just been born two days before and the ranger encouraged the boys to offer a name for her.

Look at that fuzzy little newborn face. Now, seriously, how cute is she?
After ooohing and aaahing over the calf we headed to the barn to see the piglets that had just been born that morning. We obviously hit the farm on a good week.

The pink piglet was one of the ones born that morning. Unfortunately, only two of the piglets in that litter survived so they brought in some other piglets to help the momma and babies out.
The ranger was kind enough to let the boys see one of the older piglets and they even got to pet it. Very exciting!




Then we were off to see the goats. When we first arrived there were some other kids there who were feeding the goats the grass from the "greener side." The boys quickly followed suit and could hardly get enough.
They giggled with excitement over the very attentive goats who were eating from their hands.









I think the goats were the favorite animal that day as we had to visit them twice.

And, of course, it wouldn't be a good farm if there weren't tractors to sit on. Austin is tractor obsessed. He would have sat there all day, but being a good friend he got down and let the other boys have turns. I honestly don't know what we said to them to get them to finally leave that barn.

Visiting the horses was also a lot of fun. We can see horses from our back deck, but Austin never has an opportunity to get this close. He was more than a little intimidated.
My friend Patty and I had both packed carrots in our lunch bags, so we pulled them out and let the boys feed the horses.








Austin was too scared, but Gavin and Sebastian loved it. There was one little horse, which may actually have been some kind of donkey, that was trying hard to get a turn at the carrots. He was getting blocked for awhile, but eventually he managed to squeeze his head through the fence and score a couple carrots. The boys really liked that little guy!

We had a fantastic day and plan to visit the farm again soon.
I can't tell you what a blessing it is to have friends that I love to hang out with. Our boys are friends and love to play together, and we have a chance to look at our sweet daughters and think of all the fun that is ahead when they start to play together. It doesn't get much better than that.

"Friends are the sunshine of life."
~ John Hay
"A friend is someone who reaches out for your hand...and touches your heart." ~ Anonymous



PhotoStory Friday
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

34 comments:

tiarastantrums said...

that place is awesome -

I love that all the little mans held hands!!!!!

Corey~living and loving said...

WOW what a fun day....and a great place to take pictures. :) thanks for sharing.
happy PSF!

Cecily R said...

Look at those cute little bugs!
What a great day!

That last shot is kid pic PERFECTION, I tell you!!

Unknown said...

So fun. I want to know what the boys would have named the calf! Please share.

Anonymous said...

What a great fun the kids have. I hope all of them will be good friends until they get old.

Here's my PSF for this week: Jenn Was Here. Happy weekends!

Carol said...

Looks like a wonderful day.

That calf is way cuter than a human baby!

Unknown said...

That looks like so much fun!

I love the pic of them all in a row holding hands...too perfect!

Izzy, Emmy 'N Alexander said...

Lovely story and the photos are so pretty. What great fun!

Anonymous said...

awwwww.......i love boys!!! What a blessing to have these memories and photos. Holding hands....so sweet.

Anonymous said...

After teaching obnoxious high schoolers all day, it's so nice to see children when they are loving and kind...I needed that today.

Wendi said...

Awww.
How sweet!
Love that last photo!

Anonymous said...

So cute...the first and last photos are my favorite...have you done one of those in black and white or sepia? It would look good framed with some caption about friends...the photo alone is practically a Hallmark Card.

mom2natnkatncj said...

Oh, that's so great. Looks like a very fun day.

Chris said...

What a cool adventure for the boys. Those first and last shots are great. I love pictures of kids from behind, and pictures of kids being kids. Frame that first one!

Amanda @ notsoextraordinary said...

what a great story to go along with your pics...

and that first and last pic... amazing.

my mom always tells me that a picture that evokes emotion is a good one... and that my dear, does indeed evoke emotion :)

Neutral Dwelling said...

I love the photo of the boys running and holding hands! So cute!

Carrie and Troy Keiser said...

What a fun story! How great friends are. I love all these great pix of the boys exploring!

Anonymous said...

How true are those quotes - everyone of them! The photos are all well captured and my favorite has got to be the last one. A real memorable piece :-)

CC said...

I have 2 teacher friends that also became moms the same time as I did and became moms again around the same time as well! But they decided to stay home after #2, whereas I had to continue working (my husband stays home).... It has been fun though!

Cecilia said...

What a fun place to take the kids!
Friends are the best! :)

PS-Thanks for visiting me!

Chasity said...

How lucky you are to have such a perfectly matched support group, and how lucky the children are to know that kind of friendship. It looks like a really fun day. Great PSF.

Leslie said...

I love these photos! What could be better than a farm with animals, tractors and good friends? How fortunate you are to have such friendships. And the boys too. I love that you all have daughters as well.

that girl said...

sounds like a fantastic day. my kids are older now but I still try to do things that they might remember when they are even older.

Kelly said...

What great pics and that farm looks awesome. Do you mind if I ask where it is?

Kim said...

What a great day to share with friends. It looks like you had a lot of fun!

Robyn said...

How awesome was that. Great story and your photos are spectacular. The one at the end with the 3 boys how perfect!!! Did they name the calf?

imbeingheldhostage said...

What a beautiful post! From the quotes to the baby-- and that first photo, wow. Really great PSF!

carrie said...

You need to frame that 1st and last one, you know . . .

We have friends like that too, and the boys are the oldest, they are 11, 10 and 9 now but they still pose for the occasional photo! That is such a blessing for them to have that strong bond.

Supercool Hotmama said...

Such great pictures and what a wonderful field trip! It is so great to have friends you can hang out with and kids the same age! You are blessed!

Unknown said...

Oh Susan!! I LOVE your pictures! They turned out wonderful. You'll have to download them to Kodak as well so that I can purchase them.

I can definitely see you writing a book in the future. You have such an eloquent way of writing - I'm so jealous. ;o)

After seeing your pictures, you may have turned me on to photography. Now I can't wait to get a new digital camera.

Unknown said...

I love the pic of them holding hands from behind. Precious!

Unknown said...

This is excellent! I love that you all became SAHMs together and still keep in touch. The kids look like they had a great day!

Anonymous said...

That sounds like so much fun. I think you told the story perfectly with words and pictures and love the fact that you opened and closed with a similar picture. :)

WILLIAM said...

that first picture of the kids walking down the drive is awesome.