Howdy.

Thanks to the fabulous FAMC, we spent a morning at the tremendous Real Life Farm in Canton. We were lucky that many of our friends joined us, so we all got to enjoy the farm together. It was an experience I would have absolutely loved as a kid. They get to torture handle baby animals, ride horses, milk cows, and go on a hayride. It was without a doubt one of the best outings we have had with FAMC--and believe me, that's saying a lot, we always have fantastic times and outings with FAMC.

"Look, Sarah! It really is a goat!!"

Liesl feeding the baby goat. Ava was on my hip in the sling during this shot--she would have NOTHING to do with the goats, or most of the other animals. She preferred to observe from afar.

Ava a bit sceptical about the bunny. She was very interested in it...she just didn't want to touch it. (Who could blame her. Doesn't that baby bunny look horrifically dangerous?)

Liesl's really not torturing this kitten...honest. Please don't sic the ASPCA on us. The kitten--who was obviously lacking in some common sense--was actually trying to get back into Liesl's lap when I took this shot.

There were lots of barn cats and kittens roaming around. It made us miss Whinnie, Tigger and Abner a lot. It has been odd these last few months living in a cat-free house, after having cats for so many years. It was nice to get a kitty fix at the farm.

Liesl holding a baby duck. Oh, dear Lord...that poor duck.

"You gotta be kidding me."

Farmer Don, explaining that milk doesn't magically appear at the grocery store in plastic cartons.

"Yes, children...this really is where milk comes from."

I don't really need to caption this, do I?

They actually encouraged us to put our children in the pigpen with the baby pigs. Oh, if only my mother had taken me here as a child...she'd have had so much more ammo when harping on me about cleaning up my pigsty bedroom.

Laugh it up, kid. I'm showing this photo to your prom date.

Krista, Elyse and Liesl: See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil...just be the evil.

Liesl riding the horse...I got to lead, which was great for me. Ava...not so much. I'm thankful that slings and horses are naturally on opposite sides. It was good for Ava, though...it was as close to the horse as she was gonna get!

Here, Ava was ardently signing "duckduckduckduckduckduck" while screeching in delight. Really, the many ducks and geese wandering around was the highlight of the afternoon for her.