Here is Kent, next to the pond, looking for frogs.
Blythe is looking too, but she doesn't want to get too close.
There were a number of dead trees in the Brinkerhoff forest, and throughout the week I had looked at them out the window. Apparently Kent had been doing the same because before we left, he suggested we try to push over one or two. Yeah! Tree tipping! One of my favorite activities. Kent wouldn't let me (or the children) anywhere near the tree he was working on, and I'm sort of happy to report that without my help, he was unsuccessful. If he had let me push too, I'm certain we would have gotten at least one over.
On our way from Lafayette back to Chicago, we made a highly recommended by George stop at Fair Oaks Farm, a working cow and pig farm that offers tours. It was fantastic and super interesting. As part of your entrance fee, you can go in a tour bus to see cows in their barns and being milked, pigs in their barns, cows being born, ride on little rides, and learn all about contemporary farming practices. We also bought made-on-site ice cream. We all had a great time; it was well worth the stop.
Milkers
I'm not sure they really have the technique down, but as this is a large fake cow, it probably doesn't matter.
There are two tours you go on at the farm, one to see cows and one to see pigs. On the cow tour, you stay mostly in the bus and look at cows out the window as you are driven past barns and feeding stations and given much fascinating information about how to have happy cows.
Bus riders
These cows are pregnant (all done by artificial insemination) and waiting to be moved to the birthing barn.
We made a visit to the birthing barn (pictures coming later).
Baby cows.
They are not waiting to be turning into veal, just hanging out in the sun and growing.
This is the milking parlor. It is a round quasi carnival ride for the cows that they stand in while they are being milked. They step on near the top left, travel around the full circle in about eight minutes, then step off after being milked. We learned all sorts of interesting things about cows as we watched. They are herd animals and will willingly follow each other. They also are easily trained, so after just a couple times on the milking machine, they know what to expect. The new cows follow the seasoned veterans. They like the parlor; some will even go around a second time, just because they like it so well. Teats are cleaned before being attached to the milker cups, then dipped in something at the end to keep them from getting chapped. The backs of the cows have markings on them that indicate in which part of the insemination process they are in--ready, already done, pregnant. They are milked three times a day which makes them happier than just two times a day, and their milk is shipped all over. Fair Oaks Farm converts cow manure into a methane bio-fuel right on site, so the cows are creating the power that runs the whole farm. It was really fun to see the whole process.
Blythe took this picture of me mooing like a cow.
The farm has a birthing barn with an outside mounted stop-light. Red means nothing is really happening in the barn, yellow means hooves are showing, and green means birth is imminent. You can go into the barn and watch a cow birth if you want. We wanted, and as we finished our cow tour, the yellow light was on. We raced in and were in time to see the woman below help the cow deliver a male calf. The whole birth process intrigued the children who asked lots of questions about how animals and human babies are born. When I told the children in answer to their question that human babies are born through a woman's vagina, just like through a cow's vagina, I got somewhat stunned looks and a "Really?" from Brandt. Also, an "Ewwwww," from both of them. Ah! The facts of life!
Mother and baby seemed to be doing fine.
Following our birth viewing, we hopped another bus to the pig portion of the tour. The pigs are kept in three different barns, depending on their stage of development. We were able to walk through the barns, but from an elevated and enclosed vantage point. We couldn't get near to any of the animals because they want to keep their operation free from nasty germs and microbes that could be detrimental to the animals. But the viewing areas were fairly close and we were again well educated about the domestic pig. In one barn we got to see pigs as they grew. There were large groups of pigs from about one month old up to nine months old when they are pretty much full size (I think, if I remember correctly). Then in another barn we saw the pigs who were being inseminated, also divided up based on how far along in the process they were. And then in the last barn were sows delivering babies, or with recently delivered litters. We were able to see a sow giving birth, as well as wee baby piglets just born within the hour.
Like at the entrance to the farm, in the pig area, there was a pig and some costumes the children dressed up in. They could act as vets or as farmers. It was awfully exciting to work on that pig. Even I was encouraged to get in on the action and doffed a white jacket (several sizes too small).
Christmas card picture?
Very possibly.
You can't beat a good family on a pig picture.
A boy and his sow.
A boy and his sow and his sister.
Blythe was being very strange and sucked on the pigs teats.
Ew gross.
This pig had only just given birth.
These suckling piglets were not even an hour old.
We also got to see a brand new piglet through the glass and have the worker holding the piglet
answer any and all questions we might have about pigs.
Brandt looks like he has had an unfortunate allergic reaction to something.
He's fine, just not super cooperative for the picture.
Blythe and the piglet, however, look so cute, I had to include the picture.
Although difficult to tell, this is a pig giving birth at the very moment we were there.
That's a slimy new piglet sliding out.
In the introductory area of the farm, they have a number of fun activities including a Spider Man magnet wall you could climb. Blythe really wanted to try, but not Brandt. She was harnessed and had the magnets strapped onto her arms and legs, then started climbing. I did it too. Blythe did a fantastic job. She got higher than I did and would have been able to make it to the top (I think), if she hadn't looked down and realized how high she had gotten. I was super impressed because it is really hard to do. The magnets stick with great force and it is difficult to get them off so you can move up, but then, as often as not, I slid down as I tried to release to move up. It required a tremendous amount of effort, and Blythe really worked hard. It was fun to watch her.
Before we left to continue on our way to Chicago, we jumped on the giant inflated bounce mat and had an ice cream. We promised the children ice cream before we left and they made sure we did not forget.
We got sort of lost on our way home. We had James and Alisa's GPS, but there was construction on the road and we came to a portion of the freeway that divided, and thinking we needed to get off, we did. Only we didn't really need to get off, and we ended up in a very scary part of Gary, Indiana. I'm sure most native people in the area looked at us and said, "They're lost." We wanted the GPS to hurry up and "recalculate" so we could get out of where we were, and we spent a few tense minutes waiting to figure out where we should go.
As a result of our side-trip, we wound up on the opposite side of Chicago from the one we wanted to be on, and drove right through the center of Chicago at rush hour. Not our most brilliant navigational moment. But the children had their Kindles on, Kent and I chatted, and we all looked at the scenery as we went along. How can you go to Chicago and not expect to get stuck in traffic of some sort? If I had an IPhone, I would have posted something on Facebook telling anyone who cared that we were "sitting around in Chicago."
James, Alisa, and Ethan were all a youth conference, so we spent a quiet evening at their house, playing in the yard, walking around the lake, and watching TV. Oddly enough, we got a bit lost on our walk around the lake, probably within 100 yards of the house, but not entirely visible from where we were. We ended up in a sort of condo complex and Kent and I both were certain that we would come around a building and be right where we needed to be, but we had to walk much further than we thought before that actually happened. We all enjoyed the walk.
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