Hoofprints: Adventures in Remodeling: Farm Day

So by now of our past week, the bathroom remodel went on a temporary hiatus. Four walls, a ceiling and a bathtub later, the boys were wiped and ready for a nice break from remodeling. There was a coat or two of mud on the sheet rock and five bored kids in the house. What better to do than head to a local place of entertainment. There is a place not too awful far from their house that is a Farmstead for children. They have baby goats to bottle feed, lots of farm animals to pet and feed, cane pole fishing, play equipment and various other things to entertain kids of all ages. And of course, by kids of all ages, I really mean adults. And by adults, I mean...well...me. I actually had quite a bit of fun there. The kids had a blast too. The best part was the fishing. They have a stocked pond there and you pay to get a little bucket of worms and an old fashioned cane pole. There are some perch and various other fish that inhabit the water and it is stocked enough that you are pretty much guaranteed to catch at least one or two fish. So it was Alex and Abby's first time fishing for the most part and their attention span lasted about five minutes. Lucky for me, Josh loathes fishing. So while he watched the kids, I desperately attempted to catch a fish. About ten minutes into it, I was just about the only one who hadn't caught a fish. Ben, being the naturally awesome fisherman from all his practice, (or sheer luck. I'm not sure which.) caught far too many fish to keep track of. Heather came in with a close second and each of the girls managed to somehow out fish Aunt Jessie. Never fear. I eventually caught two very small perch. Now the much more entertaining part of this little fishing ordeal was the big fish tail that Ben and I kept seeing about two or three feet from the shore. Oh, I tried to no avail to catch that blasted fish as he taunted me from his watery world. But who swooped in and managed to hook him? Ben. What the heck?!? Keep in mind that we were using wimpy old cane poles with weak string and tiny hooks. So the line broke when the fish was just within grabbing distance. Turns out that the big tail that taunted us was a large-mouth bass. A big one, too. Ben hooked him twice more with his mad skills, but in the end, he eluded full capture. Regardless, it was fun and got me in fishing mode. I can't wait to buy a couple of Zebco kid reels and take the kids out this summer. It was a great day, the boys got to relax from the remodel, and everyone got a nice little sunburn for a souvenir. It was a great photo op too. So here's my bazillion photos (really just 14) from the day.

One of the many things to climb on.

Abby feeding the baby goats. Poor goats were in a milk coma by the afternoon from the hundred kids feeding them.

Couldn't resist snapping pictures of Abby feeding the goats. We had to be careful with Alex and the bottles. (Milk allergy, you know.)

My niece, Lauren, with a baby goat.

A little old time fishin'!

Abby and Josh. Yeah...I think she preferred dragging dad to see the ponies instead of fishing.

Ben with my Niece, Linsey. She caught a fish and I think Ben was pretty proud of his girl's fishing skills.

My first fish. Alex and Abby got a kick out of touching the slimy little thing. I was just glad I actually caught something. Otherwise I would have went home with a slight complex. :-)