A day with the cows

About 45 miles north of where we live is a dairy farm.  This is not a dairy farm with a few cows and some farm animals for the kids to pet, this is a dairy farm with 32,000 cows.  It is huge.  And a lot of fun.  We have been wanting to go visit Fair Oaks Farm for awhile now.  We went today and had so much fun.  Fair Oaks is so clean and all of the people who work there could not be nicer.  It is also great for kids with so much for them to do and see. 

At the farm and ready to explore

Daddy and Ashlyn ready for a bus tour....time to see some cows

And, boy, did we ever see some cows! Here is their milking station.  This is the dairy go round....all the cows lined up and ready to get milked.  They have it down to a science and it is crazy to see. 

Me, Kyla and the cows (we weren't really in the barn....just by a picture)

Big blue skies and a jumping girl

Taking a rest in the shade

Farm girl

And two little cow girls

 Troy seeing how fast he could milk a simulated cow.  He has farming in his blood.....he was a natural.

My favorite part of Fair Oaks is that you get to see baby calves being born.  This is what I was most excited about and the most nervous about....not sure what the girls would think of it.  I knew Ashlyn wouldn't really be paying attention but I didn't know what Kyla would think.  As Troy and I discussed with each other beforehand, cows giving birth in a barn is primal.  Actually, a woman giving birth in a hospital is primal too, but kids aren't generally allowed to peek in on that.

The birthing barn is really cool.  They have a stop light outside of it and if it is red it means no calves are being born right now.  If it is yellow it means it is coming soon because hooves are coming out (primal).  If it is green it means that baby is coming out.  Inside of the barn they have stadium seating for viewers to sit back and watch it all happen.  And that is just what we did.

Here are two mama cows who are in labor...they are pretty calm about the whole thing

 This is a mama just after delivering her cow, cleaning it off

Warning: Unpleasant picture.  Just keeping it real and primal.  We were lucky enough to see a cow deliver twins today.  But, she needed a little help.  So, in came a farmer/helper who tied a strap around the hooves coming out and started pulling.  Ouch.

It got even more invasive than that when the farmer went away and came back with a rubber glove on his hand.  You can imagine what came next.  I saw him walking in and I whispered to Troy, "Oh no, he is gloving up."  Luckily, none of it seemed to phase our children.  After the twins came out, everyone started cheering.  The farmer got the baby calves off into a pile of hay while the mama laid and rested, which who can blame her?  While she was resting the farmer came over and gave her a pat on the back.....giving her a little affirmation of a job well done.  After I delivered Ashlyn with no drugs and lots of screaming, Troy told me I was his hero.  I guess the pat on the back is the equivalent in cow terms.

Here is Kyla witnessing the miracle of birth, cow style

After the calves are born, you can go see them in their little newborn cages.  Like a little cow hospital nursery.  And I thought 7 lbs., 7 oz. was tough.

Since we were spending the day on a dairy farm, it was only fitting to enjoy some yummy dairy food.

Kyla and I with our grilled cheese sandwiches

And, of course, ice cream

Yummy......ice cream face

If the milk from Fair Oaks is good enough for the Colts, it is good enough for us

As we were reminded on our bus tour of the farm today, we live in the corn belt.  And for two kids who grew up in the corn belt, big open skies and fields of corn will always feel like home to us

As Kyla prayed tonight at bedtime, "Dear Jesus, thank you for cows that give us milk."  Yes, we are thankful for those cows and for a great family day on the farm.