choi macdonald.

today is one of those unseasonably warm winter days that gets your hopes up and teases you with spring-like weather. you find yourself fantasizing about finally packing away those winter jackets and getting outside regularly, only to check the extended forcast and see that there is a possibility of snow on tuesday. but, regardless of how short-lived this warm weather break is, we fully plan to take advantage of the predicted highs in the 60s and 70s! in fact, choi boy is fast asleep right now after a morning out and about at the farm.

we are so lucky to have a working farm 15 minutes away -- it's funny because it is an old historic farm, but it's surrounded by large, new-ish housing developments. if you didn't know it was there, you'd be alarmed to find this farm suddenly pop up among these nice suburban neighborhoods. the farm is a part of the county's park authority, so it is a working and teaching farm with lots of wonderful activities and animals to see. the best part is that it's clean and FREE!

we headed over there this morning to meet our pals, sandra and ben. after weeks of meeting up at indoor locations, it was SO nice to get the boys outside where they could run and burn off some toddler energy.

i think my animal loving choi boy was surprised to see these farm animals up close and in the flesh, but once he got over his shock, he was delighted to run up and see what they were up to.

(warning: being outside for the first time in a while was *very* exciting and *many* pictures were taken!)


i love that both ben and cb are animal lovers. ben showed cb how to pet the sheep. choi boy, on the other hand, was giving the sheep the stink eye for munching on his blanket.


once choi boy got out of his stroller, he tried to copy ben but didn't get quite close enough.


how stinkin' cute is this?! there is an entire post coming later about these two together...love it!

we moved on to see the cows,


and the goats,


and the turkey!



this is choi boy telling me "quack quack!" close, buddy. :)

there was also a peacock!


who, like many males, felt compelled to show off ;)


we saw a horse,


and when he came close to the fence, choi boy's eyes widened at how LARGE the guy was. he was happy to see the horse, but kept his distance.


a sweet cow came by,


and had a staring contest with ben. :)

choi boy was in the background proclaiming, "cah! moo! moo! cah! cah!" apparently, cows are *very* exciting.

we went over to the chicken coop where this guy was totally the big man on campus:


this gal came over and glared at us,


and then brought over her equally disapproving friend.

perhaps they know what my dad does for a living??

choi boy was totally unfazed.

he sat and stared back and muttered, "bok, bok" at the chickens.

the only animals choi boy was not excited to see were the pigs. maybe it's because they weren't very exciting and just did this the whole time:

(to all my RR/teacher friends -- when i saw this pig, i immediately started reciting the level 3 PM/rigby book "the lazy pig" in my head. isn't it sad that i know it by heart?)

after checking up on all the animals, we sat down at the picnic tables just as the sun came out and enjoyed our lunch.


no, really, we *enjoyed* it, though choi boy's face seems to be showing otherwise.

it is amazing what sunshine and fresh air and non-freezing temperatures can do for your spirit! so lovely. i'm off to get some rest so we can head outside again after choi boy wakes up. love it!

oh, and just because, here's my boy showing off some of his animal sounds. watch carefully for the pig sound! and notice how cb is totally indulging his annoying momma by making these sounds as he tries to play:


happy weekend!