Farm Tour

We've had a couple of impromptu farm tours lately.  On Saturday our well guy brought out his 2 middle school aged grandkids.  I think they are from PA and hadn't seen a dairy before.  I enjoy showing people our farm.  We take a lot of pride in what we do and it's nice to show it to others.  Cole was super excited.  He is probably our best tour guide.  He took them around, explaining what everything was and they helped him feed calves.

On Sunday we had another group.  A band from CA playing for the Veteran's Association were in town and wanted to see a dairy.  They were all in their 20s and 30s and were absolutely fascinated by the farm.  This is my target group.  I enjoy dispelling some of the misconceptions about dairying that a lot of people have.  To be honest, it makes me a little nervous to have people take pictures and video of our farm.  Not that we have anything to hide, but others see things differently than I do.  But this group was absolutely fascinated by everything and I'm sure that they will portray their pictures and videos the same way.  So if you ever want to tour a dairy, or know someone who does, let me know!

Roommate Reunion

Every summer since Cole was very little, my sophomore roommate and her freshman roommate have gotten together.  We were very good friends in college (I spent way more time in their room freshman year than my own.  My roommate was WEIRD) and it's nice to get together.  We now have 6 kids between the 3 of us.  Five are boys ages 3-6 and then Shelby.  Hopefully we'll add to the group again in the next couple of years.

We took the kids swimming Monday night, then to the Science and Discovery Center on Tuesday.  The kids had a blast, minus the 10 minute "calm-down" session Tate had after he got mad that K~ pulled him out of the elevator full of strangers to wait for the next one.  Anyhow, they did enjoy it.

Tate flying a glider

Astronaut Cole

 Tuesday afternoon and evening we spent just hanging out and the kids played in the sprinkler and pool.  Shelby even got in on the action for a brief moment.  We got some hand me down swimming stuff so I figured I'd at least get a photo op out of it.

Shelby sporting her swimming gear

 This is one of my favorite pics.  Shelby has become enamored by her brothers lately.

Cole trying to make Shelby laugh

 Our group.  They had a great time playing together.

The kids all looking the same direction!

The Farm

 Our next trip was done without Pat.  If I waited for him to come along, I'd never leave.  We've talked for the last few years about heading up to my Uncle's, but never seem to make it.  My Dad grew up on a farm just south of Canada.  His brother runs the farm now, another lives in town, and a sister lives about an hour away.  It was our favorite summer destination growing up.

We decided to head up at the same time my sister and her family was going to be there so the kids could play together and with Uncle Roger!

Sprinkler fight!

 It was hot, hot, hot!  We headed into the pool for an afternoon too.  It was the one day there was a threat of rain, so we did our best to end the drought.  It didn't rain, but we had a great afternoon at the pool.

When Roger puts his mind to something, he goes all out.  He had a juicer and thought it would be fun to make juice with the kids.  He bought the store out of fruit and we made juice!  Cole was very curious about sugar beets, so we also juiced some of those.  He even tried the mud colored juice to see if it tasted like sugar.

Juicing sugar beets

We also got to meet my cousin's baby, born in December.  He and Shelby got a little acquainted.

4 months apart

It was a wonderful vacation.  The kids got to run free and I got to relax.

6 of the 9 next generation

 Cole's new obsession is sugar beets.  We are hoping to head up this fall and take in some of beet harvest.  I hope it works out because I don't know if I can stand the questions for that long.  He's kind of like Roger, when he's got an idea in his head, he goes all out :)

Summer Catch Up: AMPI Trip, Part 2

The next part of our journey was the dairy part.  We met with a bunch of other young families from our cooperative near Chippewa Falls, WI.  We spent time at a park with the kids and toured the cheese plant there.  I didn't make the tour.  It took longer than planned and Shelby needed to eat.  Pat went.  He said it was hot, smelly, and loud.  The cheese they make is tasty, though!  

This is the only picture I took from that part of the journey.  A white Peacock.

After the park, tour, and some delicious steaks, we headed back to the hotel for some swimming. Instead of riding the bus, we elected to drive, which worked out wonderfully.  We made it back to the hotel and got about an hour of swimming in before it was inundated with everyone else.

The next morning we headed out to tour a couple of dairies.  The first dairy left us unimpressed.  They have about 3 times as many cows as we do, but their bulk tank is the same size as ours.  The biggest problem is that they don't have the lounging space for their cows.  Cow comfort is a huge deal.  If the cows aren't happy, your milk check shows it.  The second farm was better.  Nothing out of the ordinary other than they seem to have buildings stacked on top of each other.  I thought our farm was cramped!

Summer Catch Up: AMPI Trip, Part 1

Our milk cooperative pays for us to have a little mini vacation during the summer.  They have a young cooperative program and during the summer we tour one of our milk plants and some member dairy farms from the area.  This year we headed to Wisconsin.  En route, we made an overnight stop in the twin cities.  Our first stop was lunch at Timber Lodge.  Normally that wouldn't warrant a blog mention, but here's the story.  We stopped to eat.  The boys were restless and Shelby was hungry, so the boys jumped all over the booth and I fed Shelby.  Across from us was an older (60ish) man eating alone.  He kept watching us, but as the restaurant was fairly empty, we were pretty entertaining.  I didn't really think anything of it.  We were waiting for our tab, but the waiter seemed to be avoiding our table, which was strange as he had been pretty good, and the place was pretty empty.  The older man got up to leave, shook Pat's hand, said "I got your bill" and left.  We were floored.  We didn't know this man at all and he didn't drive off in an especially classy looking car.  All I could think was wow, human kindness does still exist.

After that it was time for shopping.  We hit a few stores in the area and then headed to the Mall of America. There we met up with my aunt and cousin for a brief visit.  The boys had lots of fun with cousin W.

There favorite place, and the only place we bought anything other than food, was the Lego Store.  They each used their own money to but some Legos and I spent time visiting with my aunt while the kids played there.

The also loved seeing SpongeBob (why do kids like that show so much?)

Tate was super excited to get his picture taken with the Backyardigans.  Cole was a little less enthused.

The next day we headed for the MN Children's Museum.  The boys, of course, loved the water.

Cole the Turtle

 They had a Curious George exhibit, which Tate loved.

Doorman Tate

Up next, part 2...

The Talk

I finally had to have the "talk" with Cole.  No, not that one, the one about dementia, and my mom.  It did not go well.  I knew the time was coming, but I was honestly hoping he'd ask something and open the door for me.  It didn't go that way.  The boys ask all the time when we are going to Grammy and Papa's.  This summer has been jam packed (as my next few posts will show) and I don't think we'll make it this summer at all, except for me.  I'm planning to head out soon to look at nursing homes as that seems to be our next major step in this journey.  It's obviously a hard thing to do and especially hard to explain to a 6 year old.  So when I told the boys I was going to go, but not bringing them, the natural question was why.  I figured it was time for the talk.

I asked Cole if he noticed anything funny about Grammy.  Nope.  I asked if he notices how she forgets things.  Nope.  Finally I just told him there was something wrong with her brain that made her do funny things.  He finally chimed in with "like when she thought it snowed."  Yep.  Then I had to tell him that someday her brain will be so sick that she won't be able to take care of herself and she'll have to go live somewhere else, and I lost it.  It's hard to think those thoughts, much less say them out loud to your son.  Of course, he's my ultra sensitive child and he got all teary eyed and went and buried himself in his legos.  He did finally ask what's going to happen to her and I could honestly tell him I had no idea.  He understands death a little too well for me to go down that road.  I decided not to talk to Tate about it although I think he overheard a lot of it.  Somedays I hate being an adult.

Happy 4th Birthday, Tate!

 My baby boy is 4 today!  Where does the time go?

Tate has really developed an imagination this year.  He definitely keeps us on our toes.  He loves to play outside and play with his brother.  He's still my snuggly boy, but I imagine he'll grow out of that before I'm ready.

Look at how he's grown!

 Happy Birthday, Monkey!  We love you!