a friday afternoon adventure...

i was going to stay home and do a million chores around the house on their first day of spring break, but the attitudes were flying and the stress level was escalating after two little girls got freaked out about a bee buzzing around on the neighbor girl's porch. (hello, meltdowns, please go away)

so, i did the only thing i knew to make it all melt away.

i ordered for them to get dressed, changed the battery in my camera, filled some water bottles, grabbed emma's inhalers and headed for our most favorite somewhat-local place: the historical farm.
as you can tell, the attitudes disappeared and they were full of ornery.

you may think that once you've seen a farm, you've seen them all. or you may think seeing it once is enough. but this farm, to us, is something special. every visit there is something new and exciting to discover. like this time, for instance, we found the cutest little babies grazing in the pen. *happy sigh*

and for certain, there were more signs of spring at every turn. i love lilacs. just reminds me of grandma's house.

of course, a big part of the fun of going to the farm for me, is not only getting to tell the girls stories from my childhood of playing at my grandparents farm, but also getting to take bunches of pictures along the way. :)

pictures of these two sisters kissing are always my favorite. i have quite a collection of them now.

it's an 1800's working historical farm, as part of our metro parks, and is free to visitors. while the activities at the farm change from season to season, the one thing that remains constant are the toys that are available throughout the property. the girls love having the chance to master their skills at these games from the past. ashlyn is getting quite proficient at using the stilts. and spidergirl is still mesmerized by the marble maze.

they both really enjoy the tree swing and would stay on it for hours and hours and hours if i let them. someday i'll have one of these two seater old fashioned tree swings. someday. until then, we'll continue to enjoy the one at the farm.

well, hello, there. this is me. totally in my element with a huge smile on my face just sitting outside of the summer kitchen. the farm + sunshine on my face....who wouldn't be smiling?

i LOVE this photo, but i'm so very annoyed with the non-glare/anti-reflective coating on these glasses that shows up green in photos if my head isn't turned just right. ugh.

for those of you just joining us, this is my mini-me...emma grace. otherwise known as spidergirl. and she just lost her two front teeth. remember....ashlyn tied a piece of yarn around the one and slammed the door shut yanking the first one out? well, i'll have to tell you about the second one soon.

anywho. the whole time we were at the farm i just kept thinking.......'how did i get so lucky to be mama to these two girls?' seriously, blessed.

being at the farm is a photographers dream. there are so many different textures and backdrops. i've also been trying to capture photos of multiples &/or piles over the last year. doesn't matter the item, just as long as it's a pile or multiple of something. i have something in mind for all of them.

we took a short walk up to the barnyard to see the ducklings and chickies, but were rather disappointed to not find any. we didn't even attempt to go into the horse barn with the way spidergirl's asthma has been so uncontrolled. horses are one of her triggers.

but we found piles and piles of corn waiting to be ground down for feed.

then we left the farm and headed to the park where i laid under this glorious sunshine for four whole minutes before they were calling me away again to help them reach the tarzan/zipline contraption.

of course, i obliged, because who can resist these big brown puppy dog eyes? not i.

long story short....i wore them out. but truth be told, i wore myself out too. but it was worth it. so very worth it. it's always worth it.

if you're interested to see how the scenery at the farm changes, you can see some of our other adventures here, here, & here. :)