adventures of city slickers at the farm

But we were listening to Little Women en route (so good, more on that later), and those girls of mine, including Bo, were pretty great troopers.

We pulled in after dark, after soaking in the gorgeous sunset along the route, and joyed in hugs all around and my girls eyes lit up in that little farm house with their cousins.

Within seconds Claire looked up at me with bright eyes and told me how worth it all the driving was 🙂

First thing in the morning we milked the goats.

I adore this picture of my sweet niece Emeline showing Lucy how to milk using her thumb as the udder for an example:

It was the cutest thing to watch those girls work together to get that milk out…with my sisters help too.

 Hazel taught Claire the art of milking as well.

 More about what they do with all that milk in a minute…

All these kids were pretty excited about Bo.

Emmeline taught Lucy how to make bread:

 She makes it each day and does such a great job.

Last time we were at the farm (with all my sisters), the hills were rolling with green, and the mud was deep and thick.

Now it is all dried out, golden rolling hills of beauty that these little Shumway kids delight in sledding down on cardboard.

So we trudged on up to take in the scenery and sled back down.

There’s a platform at the top with such a beautiful view.

It was much more steep than it looks, and no one actually made it too far on those makeshift sleds that day, but I loved watching them try.

The the farmhouse down there in the distance?

We checked on the plants growing in the greenhouse:

And gathered eggs…

…and fed the chickens:

…and fed the goats.

Light in barns is so pretty.

And she whips up some pretty tasty stuff in this kitchen.

Meanwhile the kids sure had fun on that farm I tell you!

Peter decided it was time to start riding the goats.

Lucy snuggled up her dog…

…and we removed probably 1, 397 burs that attached firmly to her fur.

We mucked out the barn to earn our keep 🙂

We raked and shoveled so much straw and poop.

And had a pretty grand time putting our shoulder to the wheel.

We went on an adventure down to the redwood area on the other side of the property.

It goes from those vast expanses of golden to this just over one little hill:

Check out this bridge with trees (or maybe branches) growing straight up from it.

It is magical down there I tell you!

These girls “dunked” in that freezing cold water “29 times,” and came out literally glowing with the confidence it took to do it.

There’s a Ritz Carlton where you can go hear the bagpipes as the sun sets.

It was purely magical.

Oh how I love this family.

Nothing like spending one on one time with cousins.

Especially before the big reunion shebang!

Saydi is three and a half younger than I am, but boy I look up to her in so many ways.

The next day we spread all our straw we had cleaned out of the barn over the garden.

And sat on a gorgeous beach.

Saydi and I were so tired we stretched out and took a little catnap while the kids played and talked and let the wind toss their hair.

And then it was over.

A pretty great farm adventure for us city slickers.

Now my head is spinning trying to figure out how to get the rest of the family there!

We got up at the crack of dawn the next day to caravan to Utah so we could get to Bear Lake where everyone was beginning to gather.

…and movies.

And also someone to take turns driving (Saydi drove part time with me while her husband drove the other car).

I’ve somehow become one of those ladies who holds her dog on her lap in the car.

We drove through the Salt Flats…fun to point them out to Claire since she wasn’t with us when we went last month (back HERE).