Spring Visits to the Farm

My kids are totally in love with the farm. They can't get enough of the animals, tractors and wide open spaces.  Not to mention the grandparents that spoil them rotten when we are there!  One of my favorite times to head to the farm is calving season.  There are new babies every day! We got the chance to go for a visit right as calving was getting underway and let me tell you.  There is nothing cuter than a brand new baby calf.

This little guy was actually a twin and his mama only took his sibling.  This means she would only let one calf nurse.  So, he was brought back to the farm to wait until they had a cow that needed a calf.  He was such a cutie pie!  Wyatt named him Shocker on account of the WSU Shockers playing basketball later that day.  I just loved the enormous cowlick he had in the middle of his head!  Lorelai was a little overwhelmed by him, even though he was smaller than the two dogs she shares a home with, but felt safe enough to help make him up a bottle of milk.

And carry it to within 25 feet of him....

But it was Wyatt who got right in there with him and helped feed him a meal.  This baby was new to bottle feeding so it took us a bit to get him to suck.  It seems a little silly.  Hungry calf, bottle of milk, but they do need help figuring it out, just like human babies.  So, you kind of have to back them in a corner and sometimes use your legs to pin them tight and then use your hand to open their mouths and stick the bottle in.  Usually you get them sucking and they figure it out pretty quick.  It doesn't take them long to drink a bottle.

I could do this all day long.  Bottle feed these little babies!  And it is so sweet to get to see my kids experience this for the first time.  Wyatt is old enough to remember, Lorelai will hopefully change her mind about cows in the next couple of years.  If not, we might just have to stick with domesticated pets for her!

One of the highlights of our trip for the kids was getting to hike through the pasture to see the coyote den that Grandpa found while trimming out trees.  

The den is so unassuming.  Its there in the background behind Wyatt, the dark hole.  It looks so small and not like much until you climb up to it and peek inside.  It is so deep you actually couldn't even see the back of it.  Nice little hidey hole for some coyotes!

We then took a bit of a walk through the trees to check the spring - which actually had water in it. Good for Western Kansas.  The drought has done some serious damage to pastures and farmland out there.  

Our last adventure of the day was a tractor ride up the road to check on the the neighbors big red Hereford bull.  Grandpa has been filling Wyatt's head full of stories about a big red bull so we had to go see what one looked like. Lorelai drove and I have to tell you, she is not getting her license any time soon!

You can't beat kids having fun, fresh air and wide open spaces.  We had a blast and can't wait until our next trip.  The babies will all be on the ground by then and I'm hoping the temperatures are warmer.  We will have to go check on Shocker and his new adoptive mama, the big red bull and climb some fences to see how far we can see.  There is no limit to our fun!