Fun on the Farm

Growing children and growing corn.

This weekend we took a trip to Huntington, Utah.  Huntington is a quiet, rural town in Southern Utah and I LOVE it there.  My mom grew up there, and my grandparents are still happily settled there.  It was perfect timing because the state fair is going on right now in Salt Lake, but we just aren't going to get there this year so we had our own mini-fair on the family farm.  We also haven't seen my grandparents in a while and I missed them.  They are amazing people and I want my children to know them and love them as much as I do. 

So, we did chores in the yard and the kids worked really hard and then we decided to play hard.  Grandpa loaded the kids in the back of his pickup and drove around the block to what we affectionately call "the corral" (pretty fancy stuff, huh).  It was a great weekend adventure.

 The boys got to hang around with pigs.  In the past my boys have ridden these big porkers (great exercise for the pigs and loads of fun for the children) but not this trip.  They just trotted around with these future strips of bacon and had fun feeling their course hair and squishy snouts.  Also, turns out the pigsty is tidier than their bedroom so my calling their room a pigsty when it is a mess isn't quite so accurate.  

 The kids got to feed the chickens and collect eggs.  Gavin forgot how breakable eggs can be so we lost a couple to his roughness (and he felt so bad he cried a bit...poor guy, don't cry over broken eggs).

 Everyone took a turn feeding grain to the horses.  Logan, who was initially nervous because horses are so big (especially when you are only three feet tall), ended up LOVING the feeling of horse lips tickling his hand.  He could barely reach high enough for the horses to eat from his hand, but he had the time of his life, especially when the horses tried to eat his hair.  We told him the horse was kissing his head.  It was fun to watch.

Thanks to my sweet Aunt Estelle, we also go to ride the horses.  Horseback riding was one of my favorite hobbies while I was growing up (I could saddle a horse pretty fast for a city kid back in the day) but my kids don't get too many chances to do it.  Estelle called them cowboys and cowgirls and just helped them have an awesome time.

Estelle also convinced me to hop back up in the saddle (it has been a lot of years) and it was great to be on a horse again.  I really do love riding.

My cousin, Shaylee, has put together her own outdoor aquarium in her yard and has filled it with "water dogs" (I have no idea if that is their official name, but they are essentially salamanders with a frill around their necks).  The boys had a lot of fun holding the slimy creatures and watching them dart around the pool.  So many things that they don't get to see at home!

Notice the cows in the back ground.  This is as close as we could get to them before they ran away scared.  Who knew that DeMoux children could be so terrifying?

Bryce got a bb gun for his birthday a couple of years ago and he doesn't get too many chances to shoot it (since urban back yards aren't really made guns of any sort).  We set up some cans and the boys had a blast trying to blast them full of lead (or bb's...you know). 

Elinor was not quite so impressed with all of our animal adventures.  She was frightened of just about every creature that I showed her (not to mention being petrified of the song played by my grandparent's cuckoo clock...weird). 

This is Ellie screaming as she sat on the horse.

This is Ellie screaming as she sat on a pig.

 And this is Ellie, encountering the most chilling animal of all...chickens. 

 While the rest of us enjoyed a couple days of country life, Josh stayed home and did home work for his college classes and corrected papers for his high school classes. 

Oh, and also he built a fence. 

(Pretend like I cleaned up the carport before I took the pictures).  Josh and
my dad did a great job putting up this section of fence so that we can
keep the kids in the back yard.  Thanks honey, you are amazing.

It was a really fun weekend for all of us (although I missed Josh terribly because I am pathetic like that).  But it is really good to be home.