Animal Farm

No, not about to give an allegorical tale of communism.  But, on a fine summer weekend, what better to do that meet up with some good friends from East Lansing at a Metro Park?  Once at the park, though, you must wrestle with the eternal dilemma - petting zoo or beach?  Smelly furry things that try to bite you, or cool wet refreshment to splash around in?

She's excited, regardless of the decision...



He's excited, as long as there's dirt to play with...

And the winner is...  Well, perhaps I should've framed the options from the parent perspective, rather than the child perspective: spend a hot day in the hot sun without any shade, dealing with the hassles of swim diapers and the perpetual fear of drowning children, or let the kids run around in a fairly safe area with big metal bars between them and the things that are trying to eat them?

The goats have it!

We ate lunch, so Noah must've thought the goats were hungry, too

They had a nice barn set-up... some of the features of a barn were on display for hands-on enjoyment.  Noah has since decided he is going to be a blacksmith... or really anything that allows you to bang two pieces of metal together very loudly - cymbal player, blacksmith, construction worker... whatever.



Ride 'em, Cowboy!

We made Noah carry water for the animals...



This tractor is even bigger than the one at home!

This is the back... nuttin special



Is he throwing her in, or helping her pet them?

Phew... she's still there!

Trying to pick up chicks with his new ride

Wooden, immobile tractors really ARE chick magnets!

Tired family... long day...

This is how he looks cool...

And this is how he looks cool...

Bye-bye, goat!  Time to go!

Such a hot day, and for some reason we didn't go to the beach.  Fortunately, it started raining... only, not really.  But sprinklers are sometimes just as cool - if not cooler - than jumping in puddles in the rain!