The thought of going out in public with all of the kiddos is, to be honest, intimidating. I have only done it a few times and with, if I may toot my own horn for a moment, rather good success. Crap, I probably just jinxed myself. Today was a golden opportunity for me to prove to myself that I will not let these three foot tall, loves of my life, angels that often seem hoped up on sugar, get the best of me.
A couple of women from the MOPS group that I belong to organized a tour for us at the local Cozy Cow Dairy. Now, I had always wanted to go there, but then, had let myself become intimidated at the thought of taking all of our children. I thought today was a great opportunity because I would be around people that knew that I was not simply some crazy mom with "too many children" as I often get that look, but today, I would be amongst my peers.
Again, my boys exceeded my expectations! There was no fighting, no pushing, no kicking...until it was about time to leave, but that I was able to overlook. They had made it through a 45 minute tour where we learned the ins and outs of a dairy farm! I felt my heart swell a little when Pete immediately raised his hand when the tour guide asked us if we had any questions. "I love cows and I love meeelk." he proudly announced. (Jeff and I have always loved the way he says the word "milk".)
Following the video we had the opportunity to actually see the cows get milked. I hadn't ever seen this before so I was excited to have the chance as well. I was interested in so many of the facts such as that it only takes about five minutes to milk a cow and that the oldest cow ever milked on their farm was 16 years old (in people years that is, in cow years, she was ancient!) Of course, Pearson did not miss a beat. One of the cows did her 'business' and Pearson being Pearson had to ask, "Why did that cow poop?" "Just because", I said. That answer is never good enough for Pearson. With me knowing that, one might think that I would have a better answer on hand. Nope. You can never tell Pearson, "Just because." "BUT WHY!?!?!", he continued. Luckily, right at that moment the milking process began and his attention shifted.
After leaving the cows behind to finish up their milking we were able to feed some of the other animals on the farm. We then headed inside to have our own taste of the dairy in the form of ice cream. I do have to say that it was some of the best ice cream I have ever had. I don't know if it was the heat of the morning that made it taste so good, the fact that I knew it was fresh or that I was just simply starving, but that was some dang good ice cream.
With that said, I have to say that the people at Cozy Cow did a wonderful job in welcoming us to their dairy and showing us all that goes into being able to enjoy a simple, cold glass of "meeelk". I'm sure we'll be going again real soon, even if it's just for a quick scoop of ice cream.
