Thursday, September 12, 2013

On The Farm {Homeschool Co-op Adventures}

Last Friday, the girls and I set out on a new adventure.
We were invited to join a homeschool co-op this year and we eagerly accepted!
I am so excited to be a part of a community of fellow homeschoolers and for my daughters to have an opportunity to build relationships with children who are being raised in much the same way as they are.

As we travelled into the country to meet at a dairy farm, I think we all experienced those 'first day of school' feelings.
My girls, who are not the least bit accustomed to having to leave the house by a certain time in the morning, were somewhat grouchy and slow moving.
I think they really didn't know what to expect or what this was all about.
But the sun was shining, I had a coffee in hand and beautiful scenery before me.
And so, we plunged on to our newest adventure!

Our day included meeting lots of new, friendly faces, a run to warm us all up and get the blood flowing and a tour of the farm by the gracious owners!

We got to pet some cute, little calves.
One of the girls who was part of the group has a cow at home and was quite comfortable with them.
She let one of the calves suck on her fingers which my kids thought was hilarious!


We watched the milking robot milk a cow.
This was the neatest thing!
The cows come on their own to be milked when they are ready.
The whole machine was amazing!
We watched as little lasers scanned for the cow's teats and, having sensed them, latched on to efficiently milk the cow as it stood there eating.
As we were watching, one cow entered the stall where the robot is and was rejected!
Apparently, they will try to get in because they want the food but having scanned their tag, the robot knows not enough time has elapsed since their last milking!
Nice try!


Piper and Tait were right there taking it all in!
Renly got distracted by a barn cat so I missed some of the explanations but both girls seemed pretty intent on what was happening!
Before we entered the barn, Taitum was super nervous about meeting a robot!
She kept asking if it talked!
I think she was relieved to find out it was nothing like the robots she has seen in cartoons.


It was fun to meet some of the cows and give them a pet!




Renly was delighted and walked around saying, "Moo! Moo!"
Being able to bring her along to our co-op meetings is such a blessing!
All the littles are welcome and embraced.
Ren was picked up and carried around by one of the older girls and I watched as some of the girls in the group took turns holding one family's newborn baby.
I love that the mentality of including the whole family seems to be encouraged.
It was so lovely to see all the different age groups of kids interacting!


And to the girls' delight there was time for a swing at the end!



We had such a fantastic time!
We met a lot of wonderful new people and enjoyed the whole experience!
I am certain that this group is going to be something we all look forward to each week!

No comments:

Post a Comment