Petting Zoo of Dreams

I heard from someone at work that there is a petting zoo right outside of Charlotte that I just have to take James to - he will love it. My first thought was a bunch of goats that will try to eat our shirts and shoes and he will be terrified (I know I was terrified from my memories of a petting zoo!). Earlier this week John and I were talking about what to do this weekend and I mentioned that I heard of a petting zoo... and John was on his phone calling them for more information by the time I finished my sentence. He was told that they have lots of different kind of animals, not just bard yard animals. So now my curiosity was piqued. Fast forward to this morning, we were loaded up in the car early since we had a 9 am reservation for the wagon ride. John was grinning ear to ear. James and I were not so thrilled.

We pull in the long gravel driveway (I wish I got a picture of the entrance) and go through an open gate, on the other side of this gate were camels, llamas, goats, cows, deer, pigs and lots of other random animals just grazing. John and I just looked at each other - the gate was wide open! A camel could very easily just wander out and start walking down the road. It was surreal. I have never seen a camel grazing right next to a cow with a warthog walking by.

Once we parked and were lining up in the barn with the rest of our group for the wagon ride I began to realize that this really is a petting zoo and all the animals were all right up close. In the stalls next to the horses, there was a baby giraffe and a baby camel. They were both abandoned by their mothers so they were being nursed in the barn with the colts.

We were loaded up onto a wagon pulled by the biggest draft horses I have ever seen and off we went, bucket of food in hand. Our driver was awesome, pointing out all the different kids of animals and how to feed each one - but honestly, it was so hard to hear him over the oohs and ahhs of everyone.

This guy (no idea what he was... some sort of antelope is what John thought) got smart and bypassed all the people and went right to the floor of the wagon where all the spilled food was.

All of the buffalo and cows literally just opened their mouths and stuck their tongues out waiting for you to dump the food in - there were a few crude jokes from the dads on the wagon, but it was pretty hilarious.





The goats (mountain goats?) all tried getting in the wagon with us. They were super friendly but were a little more determined to get fed than some of the other animals

It was an amazing petting zoo, the wagon trip was about 90 minutes with nonstop animals - so it was a little overwhelming for James. By the end of the trip he was half asleep. He did great though, had a bit of a hard time sitting when the wagon was moving - but in all fairness, I did too. There was just so much to see! Hands down, this was the best petting zoo :)

Farm Fun

Last Fall, in Cleveland, I searched and searched for a farm that would let us actually go into the fields and pick our own pumpkins. We would have driven miles and miles just to go and pick our own pumpkin - but we could not find a single one in Northeastern Ohio. We could go to a farm, drink some apple cider and get the excitement of seeing the fields... but then the pumpkins were already picked and lined up by size for us. Kind of a buzz kill. We still went and we did have a lot of fun (looking back I can't believe how little James was then), I just kept thinking that it would be so cool to go get our own. I remember doing that when I was little and loving it.

THIS year, we were able to find just that - a farm that let us do all the work! And it was only 20 minutes away. And it had homemade cider! And it even had horses! Best. Farm. Ever.

It was a long morning, but so much fun. James kept running from one pumpkin to another trying to gather them all up - it was a wonderful way to welcome the beginning of Fall!

New things

As we are settling into our new routine, we are beginning to realize how many new things we are having to tackle. I'm trying to tackle a new job, James is trying to tackle a new daycare and most importantly, John is trying to tackle dealing with the Buckeyes not having a winning season. Just kidding. Kind of.

I think in general just any move, whether is be across town or 500 miles away - there are always going to be new things to figure out, but we are having the best time (well... not John, I'm actually kinda worried for his sanity if OSU doesn't figure it out soon). James is starting to love his new daycare and friends - and since he was bumped up to an older class age, he is learning so many things that he never dealt with before. The most major being the big world of utensils. At home, we will give him a fork but that's about it - forks are easy, not too messy and can be used for most food. But I'm on board with whatever the daycare wants to do, mainly because it is their mess! However, when I went to pick him up yesterday I was able to speak with his teacher before he saw me and she suggested that I start using a spoon at home just so we gets caught up a little faster with the other kids. She said he was doing wonderfully with all the other areas except those. Oh and she couldn't figure out why he kept putting his food on the floor and yelling "dog".

Um, yeah - James loves to give his dogs food. Especially when its food he has no intention of eating. Sigh. It's no wonder they are over weight. That's a battle for another day.


Anyways, I thought about it and figured why not - lets start with a spoon.

Don't ask me why, but I figured if I gave him something that he liked, chocolate pudding for example, that he would be extra careful about getting it in his mouth and not all over.

Thank goodness I had the foresight to strip him down to his diaper just in case.

And yes, somehow some did get inside his diaper.

John was out walking the dogs when this went down. I think homeboy almost had a heart attack when he walked in - and so did the dogs. James so thoughtfully left some pudding on the floor for them.

Pudding for all!

From now on, I think his daycare is going to have to help with the spoon. Or when John is out of town.

We made it!

James and I have now been in Charlotte for a week - we have been back with John, back in one house, having dinners together and snuggling together. Life is back to normal. Well except that we are crammed into a small town home and there are more bugs than I have ever seen in my life. But there is also perfect weather, no potholes on the roads and the pool is open after Labor Day. Ill take the trade off :)

As always, our living room is constantly covered with toys...

 James has been a real trooper, taking everything in stride. I think hes going to love his new daycare and he has already made a few new friends (through an awesome Mommy and Me group). Im not sure what I expected from him, but he has been wonderful and settling in just fine.

Duke didn't miss a beat finding where James sits and getting ready for his "snack"!