Olivia, Baby Addison, and their Mommy Alex came up to visit me and M&D. We went to the park to show them a good time.
Here, I’m demonstrating how to use the climbing equipment.
Here, Olivia and I are investigating the water fountain…
…and here, I’m showing how to run away from it!
After the fountain, we took a ride on the train. This might be the most fun I’ve had in my entire life! Boy was I tired and ready to go home for my nap!
Uncle John and Aunt Heather got me this BIG dinosaur puzzle with lots of pieces for my birthday. This one is really challenging and I need help from M&D to fit the pieces in.
Yesterday, M&D took me on an adventure to see some cows! We went to McClelland Dairy Farm, where they have lots and lots of them, and they offer tours.
At first, I was a little worried about what cows eat. Turns out this young Jersey calf was just being friendly, and NOT trying to eat Daddy’s watch. Phew!
Of course, then she started to go for Mommy’s pocket. I kept a close eye on her after the watch incident.
Mr. George McClelland gave the tour, which included a chance to milk one of his prize show cows, Valentine. At 1600 lbs, Valentine was a bit imposing, so I decided to leave the milking to the professionals. Maybe next time.
And here are the professionals at work in the milking parlor:
(Ed. Note: Thanks to Laurie Proctor for the pictures (and for organizing the outing through SRMC). Daddy forgot his camera…)
Some fun facts:
The cows can produce between 5 and 14 gallons of milk a day, depending on their diet (low protein grass yields lower milk production, high protein feed results in higher milk production).
It takes 4 to 20 minutes for the cow to get milked in the parlor. Each of their 800 cows are milked twice a day.
Cows have a 9 month gestation period, and they live from 6 to 14 years.
Cows are kept in individual stalls (as pictured above) for the first months after they are born so that the farmers can monitor their health and keep them away from other cows that might be sick.
The milk from McClelland’s Dairy goes to Clover Stornetta, which is the brand of milk we buy!
Last weekend, Grandpa and Uncle David brought Grandpa’s race car up to the track by us to go racing! M&D took me out to the track to see what this was all about.
The first order of business was getting to wear these big ear thingies, which was really the pits. I mean, I had to wear them in the pits.
Of course, I got to experience the race just like Grandpa does: complete with Chips Ahoy cookies sitting in one of Grandpa comfy race chairs! Grandpa, you can invite me to the races anytime.
I quickly found my critical role as morale boostin’ high-fiver. It’s just a good thing I was done with my cookies when it was time for Grandpa to go. I got to give Grandpa the big good luck sign as he headed out to the track.
Then we went to the stands to watch. Boy do those cars go fast. When they weren’t driving by, I had fun climbing up and down the chairs.
And on the way back to Grandpa’s parking place, I found a car of my own to drive! Somebody left this one unlocked with the keys in the ignition! I got to turn the steering wheel and everything!
Today was Sunday pancake & egg day, and M&D didn’t disappoint. Even better, I got to help make some of the pancakes. Mommy gave me my own mixing bowl and ingredients.
Here, you can see my perfectly mixed dry ingredients.
Want to know my secret? It’s all about height off the floor, which this chair helps me achieve. You just can’t get this kind of perfection down on the floor. Ever see a kitchen without counters? Now you know why!
Now for the final mixing touches, for which I was outfitted with an apron. Something about being “messy”. Have you ever heard that word?
Mommy did the cooking. I wasn’t too keen on getting close to the griddle after getting a little too close last time
Alas, my photographer took his break when it was time to eat, so you can’t see how much I enjoyed these yummy pancakes. Yum!
