Tag: Farm

Old McBigE Had a Farm

Over the weekend I took the tots to to a very interesting Easter Egg hunt.  Like every young child, my tots love running around, finding colorful orbs full of surprises. In that respect, this Easter Egg hunt was no different than others we’d been to. What made this experience so interesting was the location.

We spent Saturday at the family farm – specifically the family of my brother and sister-in-law. A few years ago they abandoned the suburban life in exchange for the wide, windy expanse of ten acres, a small orchard and a large garden. They wanted to be self sufficient, get close to the land and raise their kids in a more rural environment. Because of their life choices, we get to enjoy family gatherings surrounded by fields of corn and alfalfa instead of being closely packed in with suburban neighbors. With their house in the country and our house in the mountains, we’ve got a whole range of habitats represented.

We dyed eggs with natural dyes (think pots full of grape juice and red cabbage soup) before racing around the yard, chasing Big E and little g while they picked up their prizes.

After that, we went for a hay ride. Now I know hayrides are generally thought of as autumn activities, but it was the perfect activity for the day. Here we are sitting on the hay with E’s “orange shirt friend,” with whom E had played all afternoon. True to four year old etiquette, E had been digging, running, jumping and playing with this boy all day, but had neglected to ask the boy’s name. Hence “orange shirt friend” sitting by us and smiling for our photo.
I think the best part of the hayride for me was the spontaneous singing, courtesy of little g. As we drove around the farm, we came in sight of a pigpen. G busted out with her rendition of “Old McDonald Had a Farm.”  It sounded something like, “AH baba da ahgaga, E I E I O.”

We finished the hayride and went to visit the chickens. I’m not sure why the sight of live animals made my tots smile so much, but even the stench of more than twenty pigs couldn’t dissuade their happiness. Big E and little g loved the farm, and I had a good time too.

Happy Easter!