Wisconsin Vacation- Farm Animals

For Munch, one of the most anticipated things of our farm stay was getting to be with the animals. For weeks leading up to our trip, she would ask whether there would be chickens or pigs or cows and so on. I remember having my own week-long farm stay when I was a fifth grader attending school in San Francisco- some sort of agriculture/outdoor education for city kids. Students were hosted by farming families- I recall ours had vineyards and several pigs. Other students stayed at dairy farms and fed the baby calves. After our daily class excursions, we'd have plenty of time to explore the farm we were staying on and classmates would walk over from the neighboring farm to play. It was a wonderful experience and I hoped that Munch's visit would be just as memorable.

Living on my aunt and uncle's Wisconsin farm are several heifers and a young bull. My uncle and aunt do not live there year-round (too cold in the winters!), so his brother works the fields and keeps his heifers there until they are impregnated. Then the cows are tranferred to his dairy farm. Munch's bedroom window overlooked the cow barn, and every morning we'd peek out to catch a glimpse of them. The animals kept their distance for the first few days-
but eventually got used to us and allowed us to pet them. I've always thought that cows were adorable (from a distance), but when they're standing next to you, it's hard to forget that they're HUGE animals.

Living in the woodshed were the other animal residents of the farm- dozens of cats! Some were wild and hid during most of our visit, but a few had been tamed by my aunt. Munch and I were delighted to meet the kittens and after that, every spare moment was spent cuddling them and getting them used to being handled by people.This is one of the tiniest babies, Cole-
This little kitten caught Munch's eye and was so sweet.
Little Annie tolerated all of Munch's random handling, turning into a rag doll in her arms, as Munch cooed baby talk to her.
Within days, we found the kitten waiting patiently for Munch to come to the door in the mornings and lingering in the driveway for us to return whenever we went out.
After growing up with large dogs, it was a treat for Munch to have a kitten to cuddle that was just her size

Family Vacation- Safari West

Day three of our SF Bay Area summer "staycation"- We headed out to Safari West, about an hour north of San Francisco. I had been wanting to go for the longest time, but had difficulty justifying the expense (considerable more than a day at the zoo). A family vacation was the perfect opportunity for a visit!
We met up with the family in time to enjoy a delicious BBQ ranch lunch at Safari West's Savannah Cafe. Reservations are required for the cafe, but there is also a small snack stand available. Afterwards, we loaded ourselves into one of Safari West's large jeeps, which seat about a dozen people- just right for our big group!
As it was midday and quite hot, no one else wanted to ride on the roof, so Munch, AudioDad, and I gladly climbed up for a better view for the first part of the tour. At first, our tour guide drove us along several large fenced in areas containing goat-like animals. AudioDad told me later that he worried this would be the extent of our tour around the property.
We also passed the cabins, where people could spend the night on property. I would definitely enjoy an overnight stay!
Eventually, we came to what was the first in a series of gates. As it turned out, the Safari West property was quite large and we ended up enjoying a fun, bumpy ride through the hills INSIDE the animals' enclosures.
It was such a treat having our driver stop our jeep alongside a couple of giraffes, zebras, and ostriches
although the cape buffalo concerned me a little- I had heard they could be quite mean.
After the driving portion of the tour, our driver stopped for a break before beginning the walking tour. She was thoughtful enough to turn the sprinklers on for the kids to play in.
Heading out on the walking tour-

A group pic-

Little Green Friend

I was startled to find a big, green praying mantis hanging out on our garage door as Munch and I returned home today. I love these little bugs- they are really cute and intelligent-looking- and I hear they make good pets. But we certainly don't need another creature to raise right now (I'm still nursing Sari back to health) and didn't have a place for it (other than a plastic jelly jar...) so Munch released her new pal, Prancy, just before dinner-

Roller Coaster (of Love)

There are few things more glorious than a beautiful November day in California. It was clear skies, warm sun, and temps in the 80's. So off we went to Six Flags, since Daddy hasn't been with us yet this year (and he can take Munch on all those slow-moving, spinning rides that make me so nauseous).

We started off petting the humongous snake that was at the entrance-


and a quick cuddle with the holiday bear-


Next we headed to the rides (starting with the Daffy Duck sub because of Munch's adoration of the Beatles' song, Yellow Submarine) and the butterfly house-

Unfortunately, my camera batteries went dead as we were checking out the dolphins. These outgoing, personable dolphins would come right up to Munch and nip and nuzzle against the glass. She was delighted!

Before we left, we made sure to catch a Shouka show. I wanted Munch to be able to see the animals up close, but she sure was surprised when she got a huge splash! Nothing a little shaved ice couldn't fix!


I think she preferred the elephant show, though. It was a lot more low-key, quiet, and dry! One last trip to the carousel, and we were all ready to call it a day!