Modern Farming I

Just an hour drive outside DC,  lies a huge area dedicated just to agritourism.  Loudon Country, Virginia has farms, wineries, and farm-to-table restaurants all catering to city folk like us who want a taste of country life.   Last Friday, we decided to take the playgroup on an outing to Great Country Farms in Bluemont.  We took Linus there 2 years ago, but he was just a baby then. 

We planned our visit for the peak of strawberry picking.  Go child labor!  Here are Linus and Maben waiting for the hayride to the fields.













The fields were filled with ripe strawberries perfect for picking.  Our gang of pickers treated the field like one big strawberry buffet.

But it was nearing 90 degrees, so after just half an hour of picking we caught the next hayride back to the farm. 

  

Notice most of them have strawberries smeared across their faces.

Kerstin and I did pretty well with a full flat of berries.  I had plans for jam later that night.

 We  found some shade and settled down for a picnic lunch.

The kids ate quickly so they could catch the cow train-- a bunch of plastic barrels painted as cows and pulled by a small tractor.  Each cow was named after a different cheese.  Cheesy! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While the big kids were away the babies had at their leftovers.  Magnus skipped the food and went straight for the grass, his new favorite snack.

 

There was a lot of other things to do at the farm, including visiting all the animals.  There were lots of mammas with their babies, and Linus' favorite was the mother hen who protected her chicks under her wing.

The miniature cow and calf intimidated Linus at first with their deep "mmmmooooooo" but he warmed up enough to offer them some food.

 

One of the sweetest things for me to witness was how Linus and his friend Elizabeth interacted with each other.  Just a year ago they were "frenemies" who aggravated each other at every opportunity.  But this year?  Check out Linus sharing his grain to feed the ponies!

See how well they're playing together? I guess this is the wonderful part of the terrible-twos, watching their social skills really start to take off.

By the end of the day, we were over heated and over tired.  Both kids napped in the car, conveniently awaking as we pulled into the driveway.  This mamma was beat by the end of the day, but the smiles (like the ones below) were well worth the effort.