City Girls Head to the Farm

City Girls Head to the Farm

We don’t even camp, much less dig up dirt with our fingernails to look for worms…, but that’s exactly what happened when we went worm hunting. Yes, worm hunting. Can you believe we did that. The most shocking part was how much we enjoyed it.

A few weeks ago we traveled to a farm in Michigan called “Sweetness Acres”. This amazing slice of heaven belongs to a beautiful couple that are very much like my parents and it always feels like HOME. Though this visit was much different than the rest. We actually got to enjoy ourselves. No cell phones, no computers, no busy city hustle. Nothing but fresh air, farm animals, family and tons of memories.

To be honest, I was a little worried that my “city girls” were going to sissy out on me. We have a house full of heels, glitter and electronics. Life on the farm was going to be quite foreign to them.  My little Josephine was kind of shy at first, but once she warmed up, she dove right in..

With sunrise comes morning chores, but they aren’t actually chores if they are fun and you enjoy it, right? I was so shocked to see Josephine lifting chickens to look for their eggs. No intimidation at all! The chickens weren’t as excited to see her as she was them though.

That is until they gave them some corn. Then all was forgiven.

I think they will still be friends. You have to give to get, right? Once the chickens were cared for it was time to move onto the goats. Which I think their goats are actually giant dogs in disguise. They are so gentle. Both are very pregnant so they are even larger than normal. It’s cute to see them stick their head through a hole in the barn and yell what sounds like “Maaaaaahm” a lot like “Mom” but in goat talk of course.  The first time one of them pooped, Nevaeh said she was actually jealous of their butt-hole. They poop with ease! Quickly and efficiently. We all know my kids have no filter.

Next, we had to feed the horses. Which I think were the girls’ favorite. They will never admit it though. They say they love all of the animals all the same. But, they were just so drawn to them. I could see them study their movements and their actions.

They especially loved riding them. Who wouldn’t? They move with such beauty and grace. We had to practically kick them off so that we could go fishing.

Next on the agenda was worm hunting. You can’t go fishing without worms. I was looking for the kitchen tongs to grab them with, but I had to put on a brave face for the girls. Be tough and set the example. At least that’s what i had to keep telling myself. Thankfully though, they didn’t care what I was doing. They lifted up wood and grabbed those juicy suckers right out of the dirt. High five ladies! I’m in love with how much they are in love with this new life!

Though we didn’t catch a single thing, going fishing was really more about the experience of it. We were much too busy laughing, jumping in and out of the boat and screaming about bugs to have any fish even come near us. But who cares? We didn’t! We were living in the moment. When all else fails there’s always pizza.. oh no wait. That’s city food.

I am so proud of my city girls. During our weekend at the farm the girls ran freely in the grass, dug for worms, danced in the mud, swam in the muck, stepped on poop, played in the rain and weren’t afraid of the animals. But most of all, they were free to be kids. To laugh and get dirty without worrying about getting it on the carpet. They ate their lunches with dirt in their nails (get over it) and had to be hosed off at the end of the day. I would call that pure success!

I never knew how city my girls really were until we were all sitting around the camp fire, making S’mores of course, and I was trying to show Josephine how beautiful the stars were. We were counting them and she randomly asked me if “the stars were lights that told the airplanes where to go”. I guess we don’t get a great view of the stars in the city and it really should tell us all not to take such little things for granted. Or it could be that I need to teach my kids more about Astrology. Either way, life changing!

It was great to show the girls there is much more to life than just city living and this is where it all begins. The best food doesn’t come from a box or delivered to your house. This is how you work for your food.

We all made everlasting memories that will stay with them for life. We had too many pictures to share them all and too many priceless moments, but THIS is what life should be made of. We all need to remember to log off of Facebook, forget about the emails and enjoy the moment. Tomorrow is never promised so make the best of today. Something I need to work on as well.