Lester's Farm

Scott's employer has a social club for families called Frontier Club. They organize a few outings a month and last weekend we went to Lester's Farm. It was a gorgeous, clear day, and at 65 degrees almost felt too warm for a fall outing!

The kids and I went to the farm back in July and really enjoyed it. This time around there was a host of new activities just for our group, which made it even more fun!

First up was the sandbox. 

Helen and Daddy went to meet the animals in the barn, which she thoroughly enjoyed. And even though the boys said they didn't want to ride the horse, I waited in line hoping they'd change their minds. Joseph reluctantly but obediently mounted the horse, but barely cracked a smile. Even at the end, he seemed eager for it to be over so he could get back into the the sandbox!

Although Ian refused to ride first, he actually really enjoyed himself! He waved and smiled the entire time. But then he was straight back to the sandbox too!

A family photo. The fact that we are all in it makes the picture good enough! 

Then it was off to have their first-ever face painting experience. I was not impressed by all the super-scary options on the artists' poster. At first I tried to convince Ian and Joseph to ask for something sweet like a little puppy on their arm or cheek. But I decided to step back and let them just decide, and Ian ended up switching from the creepy, very life-like spider on his cheek to a pumpkin face. He was the first to have it done, and we noticed tons of pumpkin-faces popping up on the farm afterward. 

He loved the end result. He leapt around the hay bales and growled at passerby. It was obvious that he felt very cool and frightening as a pumpkin-face. 

Joseph went ahead with his original plan, but was bashful when it was time to tell the artist. So she asked him about each option until he nodded enthusiastically at this one. 

He also loved the results!

Meanwhile, Helen was taking her first horse ride. She is thrilled by animals and this horse was no exception. However sitting on a moving horse was not her cup of tea. She began crying immediately, and once Scott rescued her, she kept pointing accusingly at the horse.

The pigs were a different story though. Scott held her over the pigs and she'd reach out and touched them on the backs. She thought it was a hilarious game and kept diving forward to do it again and again. 

Then we ate some burgers, decorated Halloween totes, and took a tractor-pulled hayride with the Coopers and Sundbergs. 

We went to the barn to say farewell to the animals and the boys worked up the courage to hand feed the animals. 

Here, Ian had taken several feed balls and instead of giving them to the goats and llamas, he carefully placed them on the railing. Nearly as satisfying, and much less scary! 

Lastly, we selected pumpkins. Ian and Joseph had been looking forward to this for weeks. Can you believe our family has never carved pumpkins? 

It was a quick choice for the both of them. 

When we got back to the car, the kids all posed for a parting shot. When I squatted down to take the picture, Helen mimicked me. It was so adorable! (Yes, she was one-shoed the entire day.)

A cute and scary bunch! 

It turns out the face paint doesn't come off as easily as we expected.... Joseph still looks like he has black eyes, and Ian is a sickly orange color. His sensitive skin is also all rashy 3 days later...

It was a fun fall day!