 Last weekend while Bill and Todd were putting up the pool, Amy and I decided to take Addy to Parky's Farm at one of the metropolitan parks in the area. We were going for the petting zoo which was free. I wanted to see Addy react to the animals and it was great. She was a bit shy at first but then she got into it. This first picture is of her and her encounter with a pig. The pig liked sucking on the footrail of her stroller. I didn't get that snapshot but I got this one. As you can see, Addy's legs are pulled away as far as she could get them but she was fascinated with looking at the pig.
They let us into the calves' pen and let everyone pet them while they were being fed. I got to feed one of them. Then they passed by the llamas but the llamas weren't interested in anyone petting them. They were only interested in grabbing a bite of the alfalfa that the park worker was carrying to feed the adult cows around the corner. Addy enjoyed looking at the cows, too. Then we came back past the llamas and pointed out the Shetland pony and her foal in the penned yard next to the llamas. She was fascinated with looking at them. After that, we were going to see the goats but the chickens that were running loose caught her eye. All she wanted to do was chase them even though there was a sign asking people not to chase the chickens. They were letting people into the chicken pen so Amy was able to get ahold of Addy and lead her in another direction instead of chasing chickens. Again, here comes the word fascination. She got to pet several chickens and also go inside the chicken coop. She loved being in there. The park worker was trying to herd all the kids out so she could shut the door again and Addy kept going back in. I plucked up this black chicken and got her attention so she could hold it. She was fascinated with that. I think this chicken loved to be held. He, or maybe it was a she, didn't ruffle a single feather as it got picked up or as it got held for as long as the person holding him wanted to hold him. Or he's just so used to being held that it doesn't phase him anymore. There were a lot more people holding him than me. Addy even held him. Now when I read her favorite books to her, she points out the chickens. We spent a lot of time in the chicken pen. There were also rabbits in hutches in that pen. The worker got a rabbit out and Addy petted it. Finally, we decided that we had seen enough of chickens and rabbits and we went over to the goat pen. All the workers there were fantastic, more than willing to accommodate everyone to get in the pens to pet the animals. They opened the goat pen just for us to get in. More people drifted over after that and they got in, too, of course. My knees were getting pretty tired from all the standing and walking about so I went in the little barn to sit on some bleachers that were in there. I didn't get to see Addy get head butted by the old white goat. It knocked her completely down but it wasn't too hard. I didn't hear any crying. And that was it for the petting zoo. We trundled out to the car and headed home. I had fun. I think Addy did, too. |
