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.