With all the house stuff we have going on this summer, we haven't taken any trips. I've been itching to get out of the regular routine and do at least a little something before the school-year routine starts.
Enter "The Farm" idea...a working farm a two hours' drive from here. I knew the girls would love seeing all the animals, and I knew we'd all enjoy getting away from home for a couple of days.
We left Friday morning and made it to the small little town by lunchtime. At the recommendation of the folks at The Farm, we ate at a little bistro in their quaint downtown. The girls had a chicken salad plate with salad and fresh fruit (they seem to be making it their mission to try as many chicken salad recipes as possible...and that's OK by me!). I had a FGT-BLT...a fried green tomato BLT...and it was goo-ood!
It was a gorgeous day, and we sat on the screened-in porch. As we waited for our food, B was explaining (in typical fashion) something of great importance.
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| "It was this big!" |
And here the girls gathered together to check out a delivery truck parked in front of the restaurant.
And there were snuggles with Daddy, too.
After lunch, we rode around downtown for a few minutes, and then headed to The Farm. Here are Daddy and the girls after check-in, skipping down the steps to begin to explore the property.
We took in a few sights on our own, before the afternoon activities started.
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| Heading to check out the donkeys...doesn't A look like she's 24??? |
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| This sweet guy was very content to stand and be petted with one finger! |
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| Hello, goats! |
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| Mommy and her kids. :) |
With the fruits of our labor, we joined everyone in the kitchen to get the goat's milk ice cream going (made with farm-fresh eggs, of course). We also got to churn cow's milk into butter.
We churned using two different methods...shaking in a mason jar...
...and using a hand-crank that belonged to the owner's grandfather!
And here's the fresh butter from our jar. We finished first, and Hubby thought we deserved a certificate. HA!
Once the butter was rinsed, we enjoyed it on fresh biscuits...what a mid-afternoon snack that was!
Next we toured the rest of the farm.
We milked another goat and then gathered eggs. B found three eggs, and A, two.
We also enjoyed watching some animals run around the barnyard, including twin goats. I was trying to get my twins' picture with them, but neither set was very cooperative. It was super sweet to see the baby goats playing together, though!
We got some up-close-and-personal time with the donkeys, Ricky and Lucy.
And then -- in perhaps the most unique experience I could have imagined -- the girls got to listen for the heartbeat of this expectant miniature horse's foal!
We had some downtime before supper, and the girls took advantage of the huge yard to race each other, and then they caught their breath on the tire swing in front of the house.
Mommy retired her camera for the day, but I have to note the amazing dinner we had. The girls enjoyed their first-ever fried chicken...it was the real deal! We had corn on the cob, another first, straight from the garden. The girls were in love! There were mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, homemade corn bread, fresh fried apples, local watermelon, cantaloupe, blueberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
And then, for dessert, we all enjoyed the goat's milk ice cream, atop homemade peach cobbler.
YUM!!!
By that time, it was long past our bedtime, but we stayed up just a few minutes longer for the girls to see the start of the bonfire. We didn't stick around for s'mores...but I'm not sure I could have eaten another thing, anyway!
Saturday morning we got up to rain, so we didn't get to hike around the farm the way we'd hoped. We still enjoyed a HUGE breakfast, though.
There was fresh sausage from the farm, scrambled eggs from those we'd gathered the previous day, French toast with awesome maple syrup, the same yummy fresh fruit, and -- of course -- delicious raw milk.
To round out our weekend, we timed our departure to have lunch at an Eastern European restaurant we spied the previous day. We met some amazing friends from former Yugoslavia...folks with whom we'll definitely keep in touch. Their hospitality was unparallelled, and -- although we weren't remotely hungry! -- their food was incredible, too.
It was such a fun weekend, full of great food, new friends, and wonderful adventures!
4 comments:
what a great idea! Although I would never do it - far too lazy on holiday :)
I LOVE the sound of all the food - did you ever read Enid Blyton books when you were growing up? Or is that a UK/ SA thing?:
Anyway, reminds me of all the descriptions of the lovely food in her books.
D and I still talk about those food descriptions. :) :)
XXX
Oh wow, what a fantastic weekend! The honest to goodness life on a farm
Sounds Devine! And definitely a wonderful weekend
What a cute little getaway! Where was this? It sounds like fun.
Did I read it right that A & B had never had corn on the cob?? It's one of my girls' favorite foods. A calls it "cob on the corn", which she thinks is hilarious! : )
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