Live: Fresh Air, Hay Bales and Cows

 One of  the wonderful things about living in my hometown and in the area where both of my parents grew up is that I get to spend time as an adult with cousins from both sides of my family. Yesterday was one of those great days where I got to mix the two sides together and enjoy a beautiful Michigan fall day. Last week the plan was made to visit my cousin Valisa (are moms are sisters) and invite my cousin Lydia's (she is my dad's sister's daughter) son to join me.What is so interesting about a visit to my cousin's that an unrelated three year old would want to come with you ask. Well not only does she have daughters one a year older and one younger than him they all live on a dairy farm.

 You can imagine the kind of fun we had stomping around the farm on a slightly chilly autumn day. There was a lot of cow petting (by the people) and person licking (by the cows).

We learned a lot about cows and dairy farming, we even took a tour of the milking area (and loved thinking about how the milk we buy at the store might be from this very farm), though we didn't get to see the cows being milked (next time!). Because they calf all year on their farm we were able to hang out with cows of all ages, the calf at the top are little newborns while the one with the heart on her head is over a year old and the ladies below are the ones that actually get milked.

These girls were so interested in us it cracked me up. We just walked by and one cow noticed us, but before we knew it the whole crowed had joined us. So we climbed the fence and said hello.

In addition to hangin' with the cows there was some driving of child sized farm equipment and gourd picking.

It was a great afternoon and just made me so happy to have such lovely cousin-friends!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and get out there and soak up everything good about this wonderful time of year!