Why It's Awesome To Be A Parent

So my steady readers know that I like to use this blog to blow off some stressed-out mommy steam. This is not one of those entries. In fact, this is in praise of being a parent.

This past weekend Grace, me, and her Pops met cousins AJ and Timmy (who were chaperoned by my Aunt Mikie and her friend Nina) at the Fox Chase Farm Annual Apple Festival. I wasn't sure what to expect. I just knew we had to get there early before it got too crowded because my aunt was pretty clear that this was a big deal. Indeed it was! We got there 15 minutes before it started (which is a huge accomplishment with Grace) and there must have been 50 cars already there. "There," by the way, is the Fox Chase Farm, one of two farming schools the city of Philadelphia owns. Why they have two farming schools, who knows? But it's nice to see that they're giving kids a fighting chance to make it out of the city and head to the country to start their own farm. Right. . . . Anyway, it's 120 acres of neat old houses and plenty of farm animals. Now you see why we went. I adore petting zoos and farm animals. E coli risk be damned!

We first visited the sheep. Grace LOVED the sheep. She made her "I'm really excited noise" which (as best I can explain) sounds a bit like a really bad emphysemic inhale (my sympathies to emphysema sufferers--it's just a reference). Grace was rattling the fence, screeching, and very happy to feed them an apple. (For all you concerned parents I was equipped with plenty of antibacterial wipes and cleanser). After prying the kids away from the sheep we checked out some chickens and goats (which were mooing much to AJ's disbelief and my own). We checked out some seriously smelly pigs who did seem really happy to wallow in you know what. Then we checked out the cows. . .

This was a sad moment in my day. Did I tell you I adore farm animals? Grace and I were looking at "Spencer" the big cow and I asked the student if it was a milking cow? She replied, "No, Spencer is being raised for slaughter." Inner self: "Oh nooooooo! Not Spencer!!! He's too cute to eat. OK-get it together before you start blubbering in front of the students." So I then asked how old they were when they headed to greener pastures? Answer: 1.5-2. Oh. How old is Spencer? Student: "He's 1.5." Oh no. . . . My mind starting spinning. Spencer cow--hang in there! We'll bust you out of here somehow. But all my plans were really impractical so we left quickly. We then enjoyed some Irish Folk music. Timmy dances like Stevie Wonder and Grace keeps time by bouncing and bobbing her head so to see the two of them together is a trip.

It was a beautiful day complete with happy, happy children having an awesome time. It's good to have days like this. It reminds you why you went down the path to parenthood in the first place. Poor Grace was so tired she feel sound asleep in the car. She was fiercely drooling by the time we got home. She was so beat, I put her right down in her crib and nary a squeak from her. This meant it was a really great day!

Pictures of the day are below.