This past Sunday, my longtime friend, Sandy, invited our family to join her on a day trip to her grandparent's farm. While Todd and Carter decided to stay at home and do some male bonding, Kelsey was very excited to go see all the farm had to offer. As it turned out, it was only us moms and our kids that went. Woohoo, a girls day trip. What fun!
While both Kelsey and Carter have been to farms in Texas and Nebraska, neither remember much about them. While she was so excited about the farm, I was just excited to go on a day trip with my favorite girl.
Upon arriving, Kelsey and the kids could not get out of the car fast enough. So much to do and see....so little time. Soon they made the difficult decision of which adventure to set out on first. First they would go and explore the "old farm". This farm has 3 generations of homes and farm buildings on the property. So off we went and trekked about half mile to the back of the homestead where the original buildings sat. First was the house that Sandy's grandfather was born. Very small, too rickety to go in. Next was the house that he and his wife built about 50 yds across from his birth house - also very old and rickety, but safe enough for them to go in and explore. Surrounding the old houses were all the original stables, barns, chicken coups, smokehouse(which they still use) outhouses, gasoline pumps and sheds. It like stepping back into history, and a little eerie. There were old rusted tractors, farm trucks and even an old Model-T, still stood among the tall overgrown grasses as if someone just left and forgot about them. The kids ran through the old houses and barns and sat on the rusted tractors. They were off in their own world while they climbed the old narrow and steep stairs in the houses and playing hide and seek in secret rooms and behind sliding doors in the barns.
After much exploration and a big lunch at the main house, Sandy Kelsey and I went to fly kites in one of the many the cow pastures. She was a champ. She flew that kite for 25 minutes before the wind died down and it fell to the ground. On to the next adventure about 3 acres across. Chickens.!
Yuck! That's what I think of when I hear chicken coup. When Kelsey hears it, she thinks ... awwww, how cute are they! So, Kelsey and Kylie got a backstage pass to go inside the chicken coup. She could not have been happier! All those dirty birds running around their own poop, and there was my sweet little girl - all smiles in the middle of it all. Crazy birds
After the chicken coup, instead of riding back to the main house in the Expedition like normal city people, my daughter hops on an all terrain four-wheeler with her friends. Not sure what the right age is to allow them to do this, but she was having so much - fun how could I say no when I knew the person driving - and she was super safe. I felt fine, really. I think. Anyhow, off they went and off we went down and around the long way to meet them on the other side of the property. After greeting them and seeing she was still all in one piece, off they went again. They all shouted for more - over the hills and through the cow patties, to grandmothers farm they went. Lovely.
As a mom of a little girl, I suppose I have the usual fantasies or ideas of what my little girl will like or where her interests will lie. The real interesting thing about Kelsey, is that she really is very girly, but certainly not shy of tackling many of the male dominated endeavors either. A little girl who sings and dances until her heart is content, loves to listen to the music of Andre Bocelli, Sara MacLaughlin, and all the Disney Princess movies, loves to see live musicals and adores dressing up - but can also kick a soccer ball over our house, hit a softball further than most boys her age.....and climb in barns, play with chickens and ride on the four wheelers. It sure is fun seeing her figure out what interests her. She had wanted to wear a dress this day. Of course I said it's not appropriate for the farm, but had I let her, nothing she did would have been different. She just would have been a very happy little girl with a very dirty dress.
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