A Date with T

I apologize for my lack of blogging this past week. Michael and I were both commenting tonight at supper that it in no way feels like our second to the last week of school (we go until the 12th this year!). Things at work have been hectic to say the least and we have also been working on a few different projects here at home, including some impromptu landscaping work and the transformation of our guest room into a new room for T.....those are posts for later, but what I will share with you tonight is a sweet little date that I had with T on Saturday. Michael had class all day for his Administrative Licensure program so I decided that T and I would take advantage of the beautiful weather and our new Zoo Membership and head out to see some animals. My plan was to pack a lunch and just enjoy some of the outdoor exhibits as I knew it would likely be quite busy on such a gorgeous weekend. I was right but T and I didn't mind the crowds. We had a great time together!

We started off our visit with an always favorite trip to see the monkeys and then picked out a picnic table by the pond where we ate our lunch and watched the geese and swans.Next, we ventured onto the Northern Trail and took in some more animals before stopping at the playground along the trail to play.We then decided to journey to a portion of the zoo that we had never visited before - the FARM. I didn't realize it initially but it is about a 10 minute stroll on a walking path to reach the farm. When I saw the sign stating this near the beginning of the path, I considered revamping our plan but T was too excited about going to the farm to back out. However, thankfully, just as we were about to begin our trek out to the barn, I saw a horse-drawn wagon arrive at the building marking the beginning of the trail. As it turns out, you can hop a wagon ride out to the barn. This was much more appealing to me as I was already feeling a little wiped out from our walking thus far and T was absolutely thrilled to ride in a wagon pulled by horses. So, we hopped on the wagon, squeezed into some of the last remaining seats and settled in for a ride. T was so excited to see all of the farm animals. He said he wanted to see the cows and pigs first but what we actually ended up encountering when first we stepped out of the wagon were the goats. And boy, oh boy! T absolutely loved the goats!!! At first, he just peeked through the fence at them.But then, in a matter of seconds (literally), he was asking if he could pet them. "I will be gentle", he told me. And he was!But without a doubt, the highlight for him was getting to feed the goats. You could purchase a handful of little pellets for 50 cents out of a machine and T did not hesitate one little bit at offering those goats some treats.This particular goat we nicknamed the "Bully Goat" because as much as T wanted to share his treats with all of the little goats who so eagerly stuck their necks through the fences, this Bully Goat followed us around and always seemed to manage to push his way through to the front of the pack. T found it quite amusing to watch as they would battle their way to the forefront for a snack.T absolutely could not get enough of those goats! I think he would have stood and fed them all day if I would have allowed it.




T also liked the cows, pigs and piglets, chickens, roosters, chicks and bunnies but because you could not feed any of those other farm friends, they were all a distant second to the goats. We took a few silly pictures around the farm, too.....and then took this photo for Miss Tricia - we hope Grandpa doesn't mind too much that the color of this tractor is green!
All in all, we had a great date. When we left the farm and took our wagon ride back, T kept saying, "I really love animals, Mommy. I had a lot of fun at the farm. I really love those animals. I had a lot of fun at the farm with you!" I had fun with you, too, T! I'll take you on a date any time!