The Zoo Farm

I can't think of a better name other than the "Zoo Farm" to call this bizarre, yet totally fun, establishment that the girl's and I attended today.  It does actually have a real name, Petite Creek Farm, but the name hardly does it any justice.

Maggie, Lucy and I strategically put a farm visit on our summer calendar while Jack would be away at camp.  Naturally, my 10 year old son is just what too cool for a farm, even if it is the zoo kind.  After a little research, I discovered one of our favorite farms had closed down to visitors due to flooding.  When one barn door closes...another one opens.  And that is how we came to find this little gem in the sticks.

I can't say enough about how unique this whole experience was.  I really went into it thinking, 'if you've seen one farm you've seen them all'.  Not so.

First of all, the girls each got ponies to ride around the Zoo Farm.  Now tell me that isn't fun!  I did have to pay a tiny bit extra for this, but it was well worth it.  Lucy's horse was named Popcorn and was an absolute doll.  Maggie's was named Doc and nearly as stubborn as his rider.  I'm just sayin'.

 The other thing that made this Zoo Farm so unique were the animals.  Hence my given name for it.  We saw porcupines, which we collected incredibly cool spikes from.

Zebras...

Lots of camels..., and yes, this really happened.

Kangaroos and a few actual "real" farm animals...

And even a giraffe named George.  All of which we were able to feed!

It was a scorcher of a day.  So we took lots of breaks to hang with our ponies and feed them too.  We even braided Doc's mane in hopes of making him a little sweeter and more compliant.

And if you thought that was all that made this day in the sticks unique, well you haven't met Farmer Scott.  He was an absolute hoot and made the day that much more fun.  I seriously adore this big ol' guy.

We topped our afternoon with a hay ride sans the hay.  And if you visit, be sure to get Farmer Scott's reasoning on this.  It's a pretty good tale.  This was probably the hottest {and only real miserable part of the trip}.

As you can imagine, we were filthy and mighty sweaty come the end of our visit.  I took my farm-ettes home and threw them straight in the tub.  I'm pretty sure the water turned a murky tan as soon as they stepped foot in.  Eeewww

Totally worth a day on the Zoo Farm though and I'm thinking we can add this to one of our favorites.