Royal Field Trip

Recently, a friend was setting up some really fun field trips and inviting us along.  That got me thinking, "what's the very best field trip I can think of?" Ding! Royal City, of course!  I contacted Ashlee, and in typical Ashlee-fashion she planned an over-the-top amazing day for us.  In addition to my not-so-little-anymore family, I also invited my sister Katie and her family, and our good friend Ashley and her four kids.  

Aubree got to miss another day of school (can you tell I get bad about pulling her out a lot at the end of the school year?) and we left reasonably early to arrive in Royal by 10:30.  Our first stop was the Royal Dairy.  The kids piled into the back of a pick-up truck for a slow drive around the facilities, while all the adults and babies squished in the cab.  I've been on the dairy tour numerous times, but I still find it fascinating.

When we got around to the baby cows, we hopped out of the truck so the kids could interact more with the calves.  Some of the kids were adventurous enough to try to pet the calves.  Most were content to look from a safe distance.

Ashlee also showed us how to have a little fun with the bigger cows who were over-eager to see our big crowd.

The newborn (less that 24 hours old) calves were especially popular.  This one was just learning how to stand up on her own!

We also got to go inside the milking barns and watch the actual milking process.  

Ashlee asked if any kids wanted to try to milk a cow by hand.  Graham was the only one of my crew who was interested in trying.

A highlight of the day was getting an ice-cream cone at the conclusion of the tour.  

What a group!

Our next stop was the famous Allred Pond.  We intended to feed the kids lunch, then let them play, but once they saw the water, none of them were even remotely interested in eating.  Bryce immediately headed to his beloved kayak and took Charlotte along for a ride.  

Our little parrot, Graham, was equally interested in the other kayak.  He worked and worked to get the kayak off the shore, but as soon as he was successful, and realized he was floating alone in the water, he totally freaked out.  No worries.  Big sister to the rescue!

The smaller kids spent most of their time on the paddle boat.  As always, it seems like my kids show substantially higher maturity levels when they're at the pond.  Thane took it upon himself to push his friends around when they were on the kayak, and was quick to try to "rescue" kids who got scared.  

After a couple hours, we forced the kids to eat a little lunch before we headed off on the next phase of our adventure.  None of them wanted to leave the pond, which is totally understandable.  However, our next stop was cherry picking, and who can complain about that??  The cherries weren't totally ripe, so the kids were supposed to be selective about which they picked.  As you might imagine, some were better at that task than others!  Regardless, they all ended up with bellies full of fresh cherries.

Bryce, Charlotte, Maggie, and Anna

Cherry picking was just the first in a line-up of produce picking.  Next we stopped by one of Ashlee's friend's who has a huge, beautiful strawberry garden.  The kids picked till they were distracted by the fun front yard grass and play area.  

Graham, Clara, Collin, & Ashley

Our next stop took us to a sugar snap field.  Despite the hot weather, the kids were ever-eager to pick and eat.  Aubree and the other big girls seemed hard at work picking peas, but just before it was time to go we realized what they'd really been doing... pulling the peas out of their shells to use in a pea war!  

Our final picking adventure is arguably the kids' favorite - potatoes!  This time of year the potatoes are still babies, so we pulled up a bunch of plants.  I think it was like a treasure hunt for the kids.  

Graham was much more interested in the dirt.

Potato picking is one of Aubree's favorite activities.  She did not want to leave.

After a day full of activities, we all headed back to Ashlee's home where she insisted on feeding EVERYONE!  But first, all the hard workers got an Otter Pop to help them cool down.

While the adults helped get dinner ready (oh, and made some strawberry freezer jam - because that's just the way Ashlee rolls), the kids kept themselves happily occupied outside.  There's never a shortage of things to do in the country.  These big kids whipped up their own dinner concoctions.  

When dinner was done, we all ate outside enjoying the beautiful views and weather.  My favorite aspect of the dinner is that a lot of it the kids contributed to providing.  The picked the potatoes and peas for the peas & potatoes in white sauce, and even washed the potatoes and shelled the peas.  

They had also picked the strawberries we had on top of shortcake for dessert.  

Yum!

By the time we left, ours bellies and cars were full of fresh food, and everyone was exhausted, filthy, and thoroughly convinced that there's no better place than the Farm.  Bryce was so upset we had to leave that he complained and whined for almost an hour on the drive home (NOT my favorite part of the day).  

I've said it before, and I'll say it a million times over, we are so blessed to have such wonderful, generous, inspiring friends.  Thanks for the "field trip," Ashlee and family!