Out at the Farm

Uncle John "introducing" Ginny to a horse.

My mom pretty much grew up on a farm, although she always considered herself a city girl (she moved to the farm when she was around 8 years old). My grandparents' farm was not exactly a large working farm, but it did have chickens and cows. As kids, when my sister and I would go to the farm, we might go and play in the barn or in the large yard. Sometimes we would help my grandma pick blackberries (Fresh is best. Mmmm....)

I remember at the time thinking that the farm was too boring. There were times when I would drag my feet. A time did come when I enjoyed the prospect of going out there. Usually when we went, it would mean time spent with my aunts, uncles, and cousins as well as my grandparents. It also meant spending time rocking on the porch swing.

My grandparents both passed away over 12 years now, and the farm has long ago been sold. I had hoped to bring my kids there some day, but that never happened and never will happen. However, my desire to have them visit and spend time on a farm has remained. I finally got my wish.

While my family is currently on vacation in South Dakota, we decided to make a brief visit to my DH's Uncle John and Aunt Brenda. His uncle is a farmer of a large size farm with about 1300 head of cattle and grows corn, soy beans, and some grains.  Uncle John farms the same land that his dad, my husband's grandfather, farmed plus some. This morning, he loaded us in his pickup truck and took us for a tour of the farm. It was great getting to see what a large farm looks like and learn a bit about how it operates.

Ginny petting the day old calf. 

After a while, Uncle John drove onto a field of cows and their new calves. It was immediately evident that the mama cows were quite protective of their babies. I guess all moms are naturally like that, from cow to human. He found one isolated calf and stopped. From there, he brought the calf over closer to us so that our two-year-old, Ginny, would be able to pet it. Ginny was DELIGHTED!! She really couldn't believe her luck. She pet that calf and even gave him a kiss, and he gave her a sloppy kiss back. She didn't seem to mind one bit. Chris's uncle was a bit surprised at how fearless Ginny was. His experience has been that most kids shy away from the animals at first. That was not our daughter though. From there, we went to a different area of the farm where there was a paddock with two horses. We got Ginny out and she was able to pet one of them. Again, she seemed to be in heaven!

Ginny also got to pet a horse

From the farm, we decided to drive up to De Smet, SD. Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up there from the age of 11 on up. She didn't leave De Smet until some time after marrying Almonzo Wilder. Apparently, the T.V. show was not historically accurate.  Ginny lost interest early in on the tour. My DH, who has been on the tour at least 3 times in the past, wrangled her while Grace and I completed it. It was quite interesting. I'm so glad I got to see De Smet.  I hope that we can go there again someday when the girls are older and know who Laura Ingalls Wilder was.

Ginny really enjoyed sitting at desk in the school where
Laura Ingalls Wilder once taught.

Once the tour was done, we got lunch at a local eatery, then headed back to Uncle John and Aunt Brenda's house. Now we are relaxing for the rest of the afternoon, while Ginny gets a much needed nap.

Tomorrow we will be leaving the farm and plan to make a stop in Mitchell, SD at the Corn Palace then on to Sioux Falls to visit other family of my husband.

Murphy's Law on Vacation

Ginny was all smiles when we started off, despite
not feeling well.

Murphy has an evil streak in him. I'm talking about the Murphy from Murphy's Laws. You know, the one who basically says that things will go wrong when you want them to go right.

Yesterday we started our long planned for vacation. Everything was planned, and we were ready. Of course, Murphy decided to make sure our vacation started with a few bangs. First off, on Thursday, the day before our vacation, our lovely two-year-old, Ginny, was suddenly sick. Coughing, runny nose, and fever. I even suspect a possible sore throat. We figured we would manage. We couldn't turn back now, especially since the first part of our vacation involved going to our nephew's first communion. Besides, what else could go wrong?

I shouldn't have asked Murphy that. He has a sick sense of humor apparently. Our car was packed up for us to leave. The girls buckled into their car seats. I forgot something in the house so I ran in to get it. When I came back out, I missed a step and tumbled to the garage floor. My left ankle hurt and so did my baby toe. Not my finest moment, but I figured the pain would subside eventually and all would be well. It didn't. The pain continued the whole drive.

We did have one bright spot that did go well yesterday. We stopped in Davenport, Iowa for lunch. I got to meet up with a Pinkie friend, Katherine, (a gal from a group I belong to on FB) and her family at lunch. It was a wonderful lunch. It was nice breaking bread with friends.

My lovely broken toe
 (please ignore the fact that I need a pedicure).

After lunch, we got back on I-80 and made it to our destination in Iowa. It was then that I discovered why my baby toe was in so much pain still. It was black and blue. I'm pretty sure I must have broken it. My ankle was also slightly swollen. No surprise there. Then, at dinner, Murphy struck again, I started feeling sick. My throat started feeling as though it was getting sore. Oh no. Not now. This morning, it feels even worse. I'm definitely getting sick. I imagine I'm getting what Ginny has.

Things didn't improve in our hotel room. We thought they started off okay. Our sick Ginny seemed to get to sleep without much issue as well as our baby, Grace. Ginny fooled us though. She woke up crying and crying at 11:30 p.m.  We put her in bed with us to see if that would help her out. It did. She thought it was great fun. Instead of settling down, she ended up playing in the bed. We kept trying because there were a few moments where she would lay down and be calm. Unfortunately those moments didn't last. So, we gave up and put Ginny back in the crib. She did end up sleeping quite well after that.

I'm hoping that on this second day of vacation that things improve. Also, Murphy, we have had quite enough of you. Please move on to someone else. Thank you.

Dirty Laundry

Dirty clothes go in the hamper and stay there until laundry day.

I truly believe this, although there were times when I was single where I would sometimes decide that an item of clothing wasn't as dirty as previously believed. So, I would remove the item, after smelling it to be sure, and put it on, along with a touch of perfume.

Now that I am a mother, I strive to keep my daughters clean as well as their clothes. While I'm no fan of laundry, I do it constantly. Between cloth diapers and clothes sizes 9 months to 2T, I have a lot of laundry to do every week. Every day I am washing something. I usually wash the clothes in the girls' hamper at least twice a week. Diapers are washed every other day. Getting my DH's clothes and my clothes washed happens once a week somewhere between the rest of it.

Lately, my toddler, Ginny, has taken an interest in clothes. Not any clothes, but the clothes that are in her hamper. Her dirty laundry.

I do not understand this sudden interest. Perhaps the interest came about because we have hidden all her shoes. I just know that I will go in her room and find her clothes, that were once in the hamper, strewn

Ginny on her bed (yes, that is the position she gets in to sleep)
with the dirty laundry in the corner.

across the room. After naps when I head to get her and change her diaper, I will find her in a pile of her dirty clothes, the hamper empty, or close to it.  This morning, I even found Ginny putting on a pair of pants. Never mind the fact that they were her sister's pants that are much too small for her, being only 6-9 months, or that she was putting them on upside down, with the hem of the pant leg going on first. Ginny seemed so proud that she had accomplished that much.

I'm not sure how I can stop her from getting in her hamper. I guess I will just have to deal with it, for now.