Hog Heaven

And truthfully it was more than just a hog heaven, it was also a cow heaven, a sheep heaven, a dog, a horse, a goat, a turkey, and a bunny rabbit heaven too.  But most of all it was like heaven for Bubby G.  We got to go to a farm yesterday and Bubby G was right in his element.  I think I had just as much fun watching him as he did getting to see everything on the farm.  Well...enough babbling....I'll just let you see for yourself.

First off...you gotta wear proper apparel to the farm and Bubby G knew just what to wear.  There was no getting this boy out of the house without that hat.

When we got there we first went inside and played with some of the farm toys.  This particular farm was owned by a sweet lil girl that Bubby G goes to church with.  Well....technically it's owned by her mom, but Bubby G thinks it's the lil girls farm.

It took the two a while to stop being shy but they eventually warmed up.

Nana was holding Sissy G, sporting the overalls.

Sissy G was just talking to Nana and smiling.  It was so stinkin' cute and I think it melted her Nana's heart.

The first two animals we saw were two golden retrievers.  This one was enjoying the lil belly rub he was getting from my shoe.

After a quick goodbye to the dogs we headed out the door to see the farm.

The first stop was to see Tess and Boston.  Tess was the bigger sheep who comes when she's called and basically thinks she is a dog.  Boston was the baby sheep.  They named her Boston because they got her on the day of the Boston Marathon bombing.

This is Tess.

She was very friendly.

Bubby G loved the sheep and would just giggle every time they let out a loud, "Baaaa."

Bubby G even got to help feed Tess and Boston.

Here he is giggling at the sheep.

Probably one of the cutest things all day was getting to hear the conversation between these two.  Apparently, Bubby G feels like he has to get really close to her when they are talking.

Now we are off to go see more of the farm.

My lil farm boy.

And lil farm girl.  She was such a good sport the whole day despite the fact that it was hot and dusty...she was still perfectly content.

Since we were at a dairy farm we got to see where they keep all their milk. 

They even opened up the lid and....

Let Bubby G climb up....

And look in at all the milk.

Still tagging along....

 Then we headed over to see the robots.  These robots are the machines that milk the cows.  It is absolutely amazing. 

The cows are back there waiting in line to get milked.  You can see them peaking under the robot to look at us.

There was no pushing or shoving or loud mooing at each other while they waited in line.  They just stood and waited their turn.  Obviously cows like to be milked so they can feel relief but they are also encouraged to go to the robots because they get a sweet treat while they are being milked.  There is one particular cow named Rory who gets milked 5 times a day because she enjoys it so much.  And sure enough while we were out there she was the next one in line.

After seeing the cows we then got to go on a tractor ride.

Bubby G was a wee bit scared of the farmer at first so he made sure I went along on the ride which I was glad to do.  I'm not sure I've ever actually ridden in a tractor before....at least not one this big.  I was truthfully excited.

Bubby G holding on and staring out the window while we rode.  He wouldn't talk to the farmer because he was being shy but I could hear Bubby G softly singing "Old McDonald Had a Farm" as we rode along.

Now I knew we were going for a tractor ride but I didn't know we were actually gonna hook up a wagon and...

Get some corn. (Sorry... I don't know the actual farmer lingo for getting corn....I was brought up as a preacher's kid....not a farm girl)

But it was really neat to watch.

When our tractor ride was over Bubby G agreed to sit on the farmer's lap to drive but he was not gonna act happy about it.  The lil stinker.

Before we headed off to see more cows we first made a quick stop in the conference room to drink some milk.  You can't go to a dairy farm without drinking milk.

I love how when you walk by cows they all stop to look at you.  I almost feel like they are gonna gossip about us after we leave the room.

It is amazing how Bubby G is terribly shy of humans but you put him with new strange animals and he'll walk right up and pet them.  These were three calves that were very young.  I think they said that one of them is just two days old.

Then Bubby G found a cat...Midnight was his name....

And even though Midnight tried to run....

He couldn't get away. 

There is nothing worse for an animal than to be held by a toddler.  But Bubby G sure enjoyed it.

While we were there they showed us how they wash the barn.  It was pretty cool.  They just turned some lever that brought rushing water up from the ground and it flowed all through out the barn.

The kids enjoyed watching it and all I kept thinking was that I need one of those for my house.

And we are back holding the cat again while the cows are in the background wading in the water.

 We let the kids play for a while with the cats and the hay....

While Sissy G took that opportunity to sleep.

After the cows we decided to get some fresh air and head out to the pond.  Talk about a breathtaking view.
But we weren't done seeing animals yet.  They started to explain to us that we were now going to go see the pigs and if I heard them right they had 6,000 pigs in this barn that were all 6 weeks old.  I couldn't even imagine what that would look like....

Now I know.

It was unreal.  I was surprised at how it didn't stink that bad, it was actually pretty clean and it was also pretty cool in there. 

Bubby G really enjoyed it.  I asked him which one was his favorite and he pointed to the first one by the door and said, "This one."

And what's his name?..."Piggy.".....Of course...what was I thinking?

Then we headed back on the golf cart to see more animals and look who's up and bright eyed again.

When you go to a dairy farm do you expect to see a turkey there?  I know I didn't.  That was a fun surprise and do you see that feather laying there on the ground?  Bubby G got to take that home as a souvenir. 

Then we headed over to see the goats and as usual Bubby G walked right in and started petting them.

Bubby G even got to see bunny rabbits...

But they were a lil too active for Bubby G to hold so he enjoyed just petting them.

The owner then wanted to show us how this goat, Lily, like to jump up on her back.  I thought this was the end of the trick....

But I was wrong.  Pretty neat, huh.

We got to meet one more doggie before....

Getting back on the golf cart and heading home.

Bubby G had an absolute blast at the dairy farm and I'm certain we will be going back for more visits in the future.  But despite all the fun we had we were all pretty dirty so that meant a bath night for everyone.....including Ms. Sissy G.

One last picture of the three kids at the farm.  Talk about being in hog heaven.