With the exception of meal times, the children spent the entire day outside doing a variety of semi-structured and ad-hoc activities. The weather was again quite perfect, and because the children were equipped with rubber "farm boots", they were armed against any mud or manure they may have encountered.
In our planning for this vacation, Ginger and I resolved to take a lot of pictures. We are hopeful that the children are at the age at which they may be able to actually remember at least certain portions and experiences from this vacation, and believe that a relatively comprehensive photo record may assist them in recalling this wonderful time.
This photo shows about half of the cows on the farm, along with a ring that is placed around a bale of hay when it is given to the cows at the far end of the pasture.
This is a picture of Emily's show lamb in his enclosure.
Here are some of the horses that the children got to play with. In previous encounters (such as at the State Fair), Grace had always been very scared of horses (perhaps because of their relatively large size compared to her), but quickly warmed up to these very kind animals.
Joel is shown here, about to feed a treat to one of the horses.
Emily helping Ella give a treat to an eager horse.
An action shot showing how excited Buggy was as the horse took the treat from her hand. Examination of this photo shows that she is happy, not scared.
On Day 3, the children spent a lot of time on this playset in the Ecord's yard. Grace went down the slide dozens of times, the girls enjoyed being pushed in the swing, and Joel made sure that everything was in working order by "fixing" things :o)
Joel, the reluctant cowboy :o)
The girls on the "park" (as they called it).
This playhouse also provided several hours of fun. The babies made "salad" out of picked grass and did lots of "cooking" in the kitchen.
The sisters shown here "keeping house".
Emily helped the children to climb up on these hay bales.
As we do live in a rural area in Minnesota with several farms in the vicintity, the children now point out hay bales whenever they see them. Clearly, their time with cousin Emily left an impression!
One of the farm dogs was relatively old and spent most of its time in this dog house. Here, both Grace and Ella say 'Hi' to the doggy.
Emily gave Grace this extremely cute chef's outfit. Grace got a huge kick out of wearing it.
The other big thrill for Grace was that she had her very own water bottle (WITH drinkable water) and cap. She probably unscrewed then drank then rescrewed the cap dozens of times during the afternoon.
Cousin Steven was busy building a chicken coop. Grace supervised him and told him "good job" several times.
As the children played in the playhouse, Jade and Meredith spent a few hours (literally!) throwing the football back and forth. Meredith actually got a blister from the repeated activity, and I commented to her, Steven, and Ginger that I'd thrown a football that afternoon more times than all the other times in my life combined!
Of all the children, it was Ella who was most intrigued with and excited about the tractor.
Cousin Steven took Ella and baby Malley on a long tractor ride around the perimeter of the pasture. Ella really enjoyed it!
Joel thought it was neat to sit in the tractor bucket.
Although Joel could not be convinced to take a tractor ride with cousin Steven, he DID go on a short ride as I held him. I also had the chance to drive the tractor myself. Although it was a manual transmission, I found myself able to drive it without killing it too many times.
Instead of tractor rides, Joel spent his time "building" the tractor (a job he took very seriously!)
Emily wore herself out giving the children rides in the wagon.
Our lunch consisted of hot dogs roasted over a fire followed by roasted marshmallows. The children did an excellent job of remaining a safe distance from the fire (probably in part because of how hot it was!) We actually did the roasting of lunch items over a small amount of coals inside of a shovel.
Our time with Steven, Christy, Meredith, Emily, and Malley was wonderful. As Ginger and I watched the children play outside, interact with the animals, and help with chores, our desire to build out our own farm on our land was reconfirmed. It was impressive to observe the responsible attitude with which Meredith and Emily went about their duties on the farm, as well as their down-to-earth approach to life. This home was filled with warmth, friendliness, and an appreciation for the good things which the Lord has given. Although we do not anticipate having an operation on the scale of what the Ecords have, we still look forward to having small livestock such as a few goats and sheep, along with chickens and ducks and perhaps a cow or two. We are hopeful that we can realize this dream within the next few years so that our children can "grow up" in this lifestyle. We are thankful that we could spend these few days with the Ecords, especially because of the impression it made on Ella, Joel, and Grace.
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