Field Trip to the Farm: The Rest of the Story

I know there's a lot of pictures here. But I'll try to keep the typing short so you can look at the pictures. Now, here, we have the group listening politely as Mr. Bryant of Red Bluff Farms talks about the milk cow and how she affects our lives.

After explaining the old fashioned way to milk a cow, Mr. Bryant introduces the children to the mechanical milking device. He explains that this does not hurt the cow but in fact, gives her some udder relief.

Look at how much milk she's given us in just a few minutes!

My little farmer!

The group marches to the back 40!

Mr. Bryant explains about hogs and how they affect our lives with the various products they provide.

Did you know? When a hog has babies, the piglet chooses a "nursing station" (that's what Mr. Bryant called it) for all of the entirety of their nursing days.

Little Bird absorbs all the educational information she's learning today.

Mr. Bryant talks about beef cattle and the products they provide. I knew about gelatin and glue, but I didn't know about toothpaste!!!

Marching to another learning station.

Lunchtime!

Lunchtime guests!

All lined up like little rows.

Seed corn!

Ready? Set?.....

Goooo!

Walking around the hay maze that is laid out in the shape of the state of Louisiana. Notice the Lake Charles sign? There were similar signs marking the location of the bigger cities of the state. There was also other state information at each hay bale, such as the State Fish, the State Insect, the State Crustacean, etc.

This butterfly garden was so intriguing! See the signs? They tell all about the life cycle of the butterfly.

Okay, that's it. I hope you enjoyed the field trip to the Farm with us. If you'd like to know about the beginning of our day, read it here.

Learning about Horses

As we were driving down the road one day last week, Kangaroo saw a horsey in a roadside field. She began expressing an interest in riding so I thought about it and contacted a local stable and asked if they gave riding lessons. Guess what!? Yes, they do!!!

I waited until that morning to tell them that we were going horseback riding. I didn't want to build their hopes up only to have a rainy day or something to cause a cancellation.

This is the girl’s first time to ride “big” ponies without them being tethered in a circle. The teacher taught them how to sit up straight and how to steer the horse. Little Bird caught on much faster than Kangaroo, who tired of the ride pretty quickly and requested to end her lessons early. I was truly surprised that Little Bird was so much more confident on horseback than Kangaroo. I anticipated the opposite!

Checking out the riding corral.

Learning to mount the horse.

Riding off into the sunshine!

Little Bird rides like a professional rodeo champ!!!

Here's DQ leading Kangaroo on Snowball.

Grooming the horsey is a very important part of horseback riding lessons.

Giddy-up Y'all!!

Cross Country by Horse

The other day I wrote a little something about my "bucket list". Since that time, I've been surfing the net looking for ideas on the "how to" make my dreams happen. I was happily surprised to come across this website!

This fella, Bob, is traveling across the United States via horse drawn wagon. He started out in New Hampshire and according to his blog was in Macon, Mississippi just yesterday. I gather that to mean that he'll be coming through Louisiana and when he does I'm making a point to meet him. By meeting him, my dream may just morph into reality!!!

He has no cause or purpose for his trip. Just to meet new people and see the country. That's what I want to do!!!....among other things! Just live life to the fullest.

I seriously believe I'm hitting a mid life crisis!!

(Edited 2/11/09 to add: Bob Skelding and his horse drawn RV were involved in a tragic accident killing 2 of his horses and leaving Bob hospital bound. Please pray for his speedy recovery. Read more about it here.)

My "Bucket List"

Hubby and I went out for a walk this morning. We haven't done that in quite a while. Strolling down the road while holding hands and talking. We ventured off into the woods for a bit with him tracking deer tracks. He says this one that we were following is an old stag, his hocks were huge!!! He said he'd like to bag that one someday.

The "someday" got my attention. I told him that lately I've been thinking of lots of things that I would like to accomplish......"someday". I really would like to have experienced "life" before I get too old or arthritic to do certain things. My mom would tell me something similar to, "You're too pessimistic." or "Why would you want to do THAT?". Honestly, my answer would be, "Just because."

I don't necessarily want to do these things "before I die" but I would like to start getting out of the house and experiencing things besides the mall or Walmart. It's been such a beautiful week this week and I've been feeling a bit of cabin fever I suppose. With my next birthday looming in June, I guess I'm also embarking on a little mid-life crisis. It's time for me to get some things done!!!

My first challenge would be to figure out how to do these things while caring for my girls! But for starters, here's 10 things on my list that I'd like to accomplish in the next 8 years.

1. Bicycle the Natchez Trace from Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS (edit: not necessarily on one of those itty bitty bike seats. I like mine wide and cushiony!)
2. Horseback ride the length of the Mississippi River starting in New Orleans and going to the start of it.
3. Horseback ride in the footsteps of Lewis & Clark.

(Edited 2/9/09 to rephrase #2 & #3: Cross the United States either N-S or E-W via horse drawn transportation)

4. Attend a Luau in Hawaii.
5. Backpack and camp in Alaska.
6. Horsepack and camp in Montana.
7. See the 7 natural and man made wonders of America.

The Natural Wonders of the U.S.:

• Glacier Bay, Alaska
• Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Arizona - Done in July of 2008
• Grand Tetons, Western Wyoming, South of Yellowstone
• Hawaii Volcanoes, Big Island of Hawaii
• Niagra Falls
• Yellowstone, NW corner of Wyoming
• Yosemite, in the Sierra Nevada of Central California

The Man Made Wonders of the U.S.

• the Brooklyn Bridge, NY
• the Empire State Building, NY
• the Golden Gate Bridge, CA
• the Hoover Dam, NV/AZ
• Mount Rushmore, South Dakota
• Seattle Space Needle, WA
• Washington Monument, DC - done as a child though I didn't go up inside of it

8. See the 7 natural and man made wonders of the World.

The Natural Wonders of the World:

• Aurora Borealis, usually in Alaska but I saw them in Jacksonville, FL in 1988!
• Grand Canyon, AZ - done in July of 2008
• Paricutin, Michoacan, Mexico - the youngest active volcano and the only one whose birth was witnessed by mankind.
• Victoria Falls, Southern Africa, between Zamiba & Zimbabwe.
• Great Barrier Reef, Australia
• Mount Everest
• Harbour of Rio de Janeiro

The Man Made Wonders of the World: I can't seem to find a list of this. I'll have to look later.

9. Visit the areas where Jesus was born, lived, and taught.
10. Rent a beach house for a month on the East coast.

So, far, that's all I'm adding to this list. As I accomplish each item, I plan to cross it off and maybe add another. I truly feel that these things can be accomplished. I did tell hubby to plan for the Natchez bicycling trip this fall. It should only take about 2 weeks to do that one.

Do you have such a list? Please share!