Breakfast "with the cows"...

Us from Calla's point of view.

Kicking the potato??

Amelia sampling her own freshly "churned" butter.

Getting brave enough to touch something.

Milking the pretend cow.

Amelia getting right in on the action.

Peeking at the "stinky cows."

Our county has an annual "Breakfast on the Farm." They choose a different dairy farm to host each year and you pay to have breakfast and tour the farm. There are some activities for the kiddos and Culver's custard for dessert. Amelia started describing our fun day as "Breakfast with the Cows." Despite still reeling from the heat of last year's breakfast, we decided to brave the elements and go again this year. The weather was beautiful. Breakfast was yummy, too.

The 4H put on the kids' area this year. Visit all four stops and get a prize. Stop 1 - Kick the potato around the maze. Check. Weird, but check. Stop 2 - Make butter by shaking a vile filled with heavy whipping cream for five minutes. Bonus: Sample your own butter with crackers. Check (for Amelia, but Calla got bored when her's took to long. Ah! the age of instant gratification.) Stop 3 - Throw potatoes at ring targets. What's with the potatoes?? Check. Stop 4 - Find a penny in the sand. Neither one of the girls wanted to get their hands dirty. Today was an entire day of personality weirds. Check it off (after a little not-so-sneaky help from the supervisor gal.) Maybe its the crafter in me or my "creative genius" bursting at the seams, but why did none of the games have anything to do with milk? Ok. Yeah the butter, but that's only 1 out of 4.

We took a trip through the animal tent and the girls didn't want to touch anything. They love animals. Remember me blogging about the Fair last year? Wouldn't pet the bunny. Stared at the baby chicks. Amelia even refused to sit on the pony. They did finally warm up to the chicks when I volunteered to hold one for them to pet.

We took a quick trip to the cow barn and looked at some "stinky cows", as we call them. Then a look at some tractors. Amelia refused to pose for pictures on these as well.

Let's get some custard and call it a day. Cory ate three tubs worth so as to not let it go to waste. We were back in the van by noon. It was mentioned as we drove away...maybe let's do "brunch"on the farm next year.

Happy Father's Day a few hours early...

I am truly thankful, on this day, for the dad Cory has become. I thought this picture would be fitting for the "ode" I plan to dedicate to the father of my girls. Cory wants to spend time with his kids almost more than anything else. He loves racing and has decided to pass that love onto his children. As I type, he and Calla are watching the last of the races at the track in town. He doesn't let too many races pass without bundling Calla up for the night and heading off. He is anxious for the day that Amelia decides she wants to go, too. My girls love to be with their dad, mostly because they know how much he loves to be with them.

Soccer...

Last year we signed Calla up for gymnastics and swimming. This year we tried soccer. She does fairly well. She finally got the hang of going after the ball by the last game. We actually have some really good video but it is on the recorder, not the camera. The last week of soccer was a scorcher. Not much shade on soccer fields. This was the reason several of her teammates were not present for our unofficial team picture. There were five girls on the team and eight boys. Calla is obviously in the back with the bright blonde hair. Her favorite part of soccer, when asked, is the part where they all line up at the end and say, "good job, good job..."

Chicago

A family visit...

My mom, my youngest sister and her daughter and fiance came for a long weekend. The girls loved being with their cousin. Madeline was a happy girl all weekend. We all met up on Friday afternoon in Chicago. Amma wanted to take Calla to the American Girl Place for supper. Amma was also able to be here for Calla's last soccer game and for her Peewee Pirate Awards night. (all of which I will post pictures of.) It was such a wonderful visit.

Another "big girl" milestone...

Calla learned how to ride her bike without training wheels. Well, I say she learned, but I really think she was "just ready." At her cousin's house, she noticed her cousin could ride with little to no effort - without training wheels. Next thing I see is Calla zooming past the garage doors on Abby's big girl bike. She hasn't stopped since. She wanted to show Daddy her new skills as soon as we got home from church. First, he had to remove those "baby" wheels.