The Farm

Now for round two of the family vacation posts. We left Springfield and headed to Grandpa's farm in Cuba, MO. It may have rained quite a bit while we were there, but it didn't stop us from getting out in the woods and doing dirty, awesome, farm stuff. This is always a big deal for the kids because it is an experience so different from their day to day life.

Let me first introduce you to Bear. He's a 100 pound Great Pyrenees that follows the kids everywhere on the farm to make sure they don't get in to too much trouble. I think he was relieved to see Noah go. Keeping that kid out of trouble is more work than this dog has had to do in the past year combined. We spent a lot of great time hanging out on the porch just listening to the rain and watching the dozens of hummingbirds whiz around our heads.

Insert obligatory goofy kids picture here:

Let's not forget the fishing adventure. The farm has a small pond on it that was stocked with catfish about 15 years ago. These dudes are fed on a regular basis and have never really been fished. Which means it's pretty much impossible not to catch a fish. We actually made four casts and caught three, 10+ pound, catfish. It should be no surprise that dad is the only one not to catch a fish.

This giant fish is about 8 inches shorter than Ryla, who happened to be the one to catch the monster. Just imagine this 28 pound peanut, hauling in a fish that is more than half her weight....it took a while.

This is a game we like to call "Let's be passive aggressive and hope people think we're cute." Ryla always wins at this game.

We headed into town to catch the 4th of July parade. I think Grandpa bribed a shop owner to save us street side seats, and we're glad he did! The kids thought it was the greatest thing in the world that people would drive past them and wildly chuck candy into the air.

Yes, Noah found a way to injury himself while at the farm. Just for the record, he's not crying because he lost half of the skin on his forehead...he's crying because we took his picture. 

This is a working farm, with about 15 head of cattle running the pastures. So, if the kids want to eat, they have to work. I'm pretty sure grandpa made me work harder than he makes the grandkids...

I'd be remiss if I didn't offer a big thank you to Grandpa for taking such good care of us on the farm. It's always a special time with so many great experiences.