LEGO KidsFest Review

We had an absolute blast today at LEGO KidsFest! I knew that my kids would be so excited to go - I just didn't realize HOW excited they would be. They basically ran over one another just to get through the door. 

I knew that they would want to see everything so I was sure to print out a copy of all the different activities that were available to us and made sure that we got to the ones that the kids really wanted to see first. 

The very first thing that we saw was the LEGO Model Museum. My kids were amazed to see all the different life-sized figures. We made sure to take pictures next to all of the ones that they went crazy over. The full sized LEGO Batman was a huge hit for all three of the boys, but there were plenty others that made the cut. My boys kept asking if we could make them at home with our own LEGO bricks - I encouraged them on, but said that we would have to go to The LEGO Store to supplement our collection of LEGO bricks. 

Next stop was the Big Brick Pile. Was it even a question that my boys would be all over this - literally?!? As soon as they saw it their eyes lit up and their jaws actually touched the ground. We spent quite a few minutes here before they were racing to the next awesome activity.

We had to visit both the DUPLO construction zone and the LEGO construction zone - so my husband and I split up. He took the older two to see the LEGO zone and I kept the younger two with me at DUPLO. This was the area that we spent the most time at. My 4 year old is just starting his love affair with DUPLO so he wanted to show me how many different things that he could build with all the different DUPLO pieces that we do not have at home. (It was a lot!!) 

We took our time at the Monochromatic build and then of course at MINDSTORMS. My boys are also huge fans of LEGO Starwars, and LEGO Chima so we stopped there too! There were so many really cool activities that I can't even begin to go through them all.

In all it was the best event that we have ever been to with regards to LEGO. If LEGO KidsFest comes back to Calgary in the future we will be buying tickets for more than one day....we needed more time! 

ps. Thank goodness that there was a retail section there as we were able to buy some new sets while the kids still had all that creative energy coursing through their veins after being able to meet real life Master Builders (oh did I mention, that was an activity too!!!)

Birthday!!! and more LEGO

It was my son's birthday yesterday and I let him know that we are going to LEGO KidsFest this weekend. (Hurry if you want to get tickets as they are sure to sell out!!) He was so excited!
As usual he got some really great sets as gifts and I didn't even see him until he was finished building. I really was amazed at how much he has grown.

When we first started building with LEGO bricks he would always need my help. Now, as a tweenager he is able to build really complex sets in record time. The best part is how it really boosts his confidence. (not to mention his imagination).

I bought him Cloud Cuckoo Palace from The LEGO Movie. He really wanted a Uni-Kitty mini figure and that is the set that has her. I pulled my mom magic and had The LEGO store call me as soon as the new sets came in (as they were back-ordered) and got my mom to pop in and grab one minutes after I got the phone call. (thanks mom!!)

My grandmother bought him another set, the Castle Cavalry. It's really neat as it is a 2 in 1 so he built it one way today and said that he wants to try and build it the other way tomorrow.
He also got a CHIMA set from his friend. This one was a little tricky, but he was super proud of himself after he figured it out.

Of course my other boys were really jealous of their brother and all the stuff he got for his birthday, but I made sure to pull out all of our LEGO and try and make other lands for the boys to all play together.

Nothing is better than the silence and quiet cooperation that LEGO brings (I would step on many a LEGO brick to get that regularly!!!)

I really can not wait to see what my kids will build at LEGO KidsFest. The monochromatic area is where I think we will set up shop for most of the visit, well that and the MINDSTORMS area.
I will be writing up a blogpost as soon as we get home to review our visit so make sure that you check back on Friday night to get the scoop on what my kids thought of LEGO KidsFest and it's visit to Calgary.

LEGO KidsFest is Coming to Calgary and We are SO Excited!! (plus a GIVEAWAY!!)

Awesome creativity!!

It's no secret that my kids love LEGO. I grew up with two brothers that really enjoyed playing with LEGO bricks and so did I! While they made rocketships and battle scenes, I made the houses and gardens for our minifigure families to come home to. LEGO was pretty much the go to toy in my house growing up. So when my first-born son was old enough we went out and bought him some DUPLO and they were an instant hit. As he got older he transitioned to LEGO sets, and the DUPLO went down the line to his little brothers. Almost 8 years of building and creating and we have some pretty awesome Master Builders in this house.


Now each of the 3 boys has their favourites of course. My oldest is currently enamoured with Unikitty from THE LEGO MOVIE, my middle child loves everything CHIMA, and my youngest son is a big fan of LEGO Batman.

My kids are going to LOVE this!!

We have tupperware tubs full of LEGO bricks and pretty soon we will be building a LEGO table and will have a dedicated space for the boys to go nuts with their creations (blog post to follow).
I do love how open ended the LEGO bricks allow my kids to be. How they can make everything and anything, and how it really allows them to focus their attentions for quite a long time.
We also use LEGO bricks in our homeschooling - and LEGOLAND is where the boys beg for us to take them. (not Disneyland...lol)

Look! I see Batman!!

While we are not ready to take them to LEGOLAND just yet - LEGO KidsFest is coming to the BMO Centre in Calgary, and I am incredibly excited to take them there.
I can not wait to see their eyes light up when they see the 3 full acres of educational fun!
There is going to be a LEGO Model Museum with life-sized models (including a LEGO Batman),  a construction zone with more LEGO bricks than my kids could ever imagine, they get to meet with Master Builders who play with LEGO for a living, as well as check out all the geekery that is the LEGO merchandise. There are many more activities that we will be enjoying, and you can check out which ones that you want to see here.

This event is so awesome that it may sell out so pre-purchasing tickets would be a good idea!
Five sessions - all identical - are available for the May 16 - May 18 tour stop in Calgary. LEGO KidsFest tickets are $25 for adults and $23 for children (plus tax and fees - and in USD) and can be purchased here.

I have 2 tickets available for you to win! All you have to do is enter below and a winner will be chosen next Wednesday April 30th at 7pm MST. Good Luck!! Hope to see you there!!


Win Two Tickets to LEGO KidsFest Calgary for Friday May 16th

My City Under Water

Photo Courtesy of www.calgaryplaygroundreview.com

As a born and bred Calgarian I have watched in horror as many of the communities surrounding my city - and my city itself - were being completely destroyed by the tremendous force of water.

Living in the suburbs my family has not been affected physically, but I am feeling extreme emotional turmoil about the whole ordeal and scared to death that this will be a common occurrence.

I have sat here for 4 days, hiding in my house, glued to social media, calling friends and hoping that everyone I know that was directly affected will come out okay. (financially as well).

I am so proud of my city for being strong. So proud of all the volunteers. All while feeling so guilty for being 6 months pregnant and useless to help out in any meaningful way.

I decided that instead of hashing it all out for you again, as I am sure that you have seen the news, that I would just do a blog round up of my favourite local bloggers and let them tell you their stories and feelings, and share a video that really touched my heart.

We will dig out, and we will be stronger for it.

I LOVE YOU Calgary!!

Robin of Farewell Stranger - Flood. She also wrote for The Huffington Post - Calgary is Flooded with Love

Tamara from ThatTamIAm - The Greatest City on Earth 

Merry from MerryWithChildren - The Calgary Flood of 2013

Dana from CalgaryPlaygroundReview - CalgaryFlood2013

Samantha an UrbanMoms blogger - Alberta Floods

Kim from TwoBugsAndABlog - And Then The Water Came

The Ladies from FamilyFunCalgary - A Message to our Readers

Mike from MikesBloggityBlog - Six Good Things to Come Out of the Calgary Floods

Sarah from DoingAllTheThings - #yycFlood

Heather from HomeToHeather- Dear Diary There Was a Flood

Leanne from IronicMom - Calgary Flood. She also writes for The Huffington Post - 10 Reasons Why Calgarians Love Nenshi. (I couldn't agree more!!)

Julie from DinnerWithJulie - In Calgary Mud is the New Black

*** All of these Bloggers call Calgary home. This is their city - who better to tell you what happened then the people who live here. ****

Lastly,
I wanted to share this video with all of you. I have really great friends that live in some of the areas that are shown in this video and it brings it that much closer to home for me. Keep Calm, Calgary Strong.




If you wish to help out the people of Alberta recover from these devestating floods please donate to the RED CROSS here.

The Blissdom Canada 2012 recap

Well, I am back from Blissdom Canada 2012. Did you miss me? I promise that I will get back to my regular blogs about Halloween on Thursday (and then some!)

I had a great time in Toronto, and better still my kids had a great time without me! My house is clean, I am renewed and refreshed and I got to spend the weekend with 500 other women (and a handful of men) that speak my language.

Love Marilyn!

Sitting in the Chair! My dream!!

I came in early for the conference as I won tickets to the Marilyn Denis show. This was a dream come true for me. I have been watching Marilyn for years with my mom and so to see her live and get to talk with her one on one was so great. She gave me a big hug and I got to sit in her chair…it's the little things you know….

Town Hall

Spent the rest of the day just walking around the city. It is SO big, and so so much faster paced than Calgary. I have to say that I actually got quite overwhelmed and had to retreat back to the hotel just to have a little quiet time. I love the city, but it also scared me at the same time.

Not even a 1/4 of the mall!!

That night I was waitlisted for the Road Rally (think Amazing Race), but in the end I got to go. (thanks Brooke!) We ran around Toronto being chauffeured by our wonderful driver Patrick and took many different pictures, videos and tweeted the whole time. It was so crazy and I am glad that all 3 of my team mates were from Toronto (lucky that way).

Next was the kick off party where we had Microsoft show us some neat things and I watched many women dance the night away with the Kinect dance challenge. (it was pretty funny)

It was at this party that I met Annie of PhD in Parenting. I felt like such a nerd and fan girl, but she was so nice and made me feel right at home. (thanks to Mara for introducing us - and thanks to Candace for showing me that she was there.)

Annie and I

Ann and I

Saturday was the first real day of the conference. It started with a welcome breakfast and we had a presentation by Dove. Next we had 3 micro-sessions to talk about things that we really wanted to learn.
The micro-sessions were by far my favourite part of the conference. I learned about analytics with Annie, How to Be an Expert with Candace, and How to Write a Book with Ann Douglas.

After lunch we had the opportunity to listen to the keynote speakers. While all of the talks were amazing in their own right, my favourite by far was Bonnie Stewart. Here is a post that she wrote that has some of the key ideas of that talk. It is something that we really have to take to heart as the internet is really just an extension of us in the real world and we must always be aware of that.

Jian and I

I was able to get my book signed by Jian Ghomeshi, the Sh*tty Moms, Andrea Nair, and by Amy McKay. (Bliss for a book lover like myself.)

So cute!!

Saturday evening my blogging girlfriends and I went to get our hair done and we dressed up as Mad Men Women for the karaoke costume party. We had planned this group costume for over two months and it was great to see it in action! It was too fun and I looked so cute! I could be a 1950's housewife every day! The party also gave me an opportunity to connect with other really neat people. I met Kyla from MommysWeird and I swear we were best friends in another life! I love this conference for stuff like that!

Hope I don't crash!!

The next day I went to the GM plant in Oshawa and learned all about the new technology that they are putting into their cars. It was pretty neat to see the "behind the scenes" and I really like how they listen to the consumer. I actually talked to them about integrated carseats and they discussed it with me. My favourite new feature that they showed us was that they have sensors that see the lines on the road and if you go over the line it vibrates your seat to alert you. How neat is that? I think it is for rumble strips (since there is talk about getting rid of them due to cyclist commutes).

Pretty Sweet!

I got to drive a Camaro (a new souped up edition) and do a slalom course, a doughnut course, and a fast breaking course. It was pretty neat and I joked with the drivers if they knew the Stig (since they all spoke french).




After the excursion was over we were whisked VIP style back to the airport to await our (delayed) flight to Calgary. The drive was great and I have to note that out of all the sponsors at Blissdom, GM were my favourite as the always had cars and drivers waiting for people, and if you were from out of town like me, that service was really invaluable.

My Ride

I learned a lot, not only about Social Media, Marketing, Books and Branding, but also about myself. I learned that I need to really look deep inside of myself and see what I want to do, apart from being a mother and a wife, and to take more time just for myself.

My kids survived, my house survived, my husband is capable.

Blissdom Canada 2013?? I think so.

Switch Witch and Buy Backs

I was planning on writing this post next week, but I am going to Blissdom Canada so next weeks posts might be a little more about that and a little less about Halloween. Don't worry though, you can still see what I am doing over at Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

It's no secret that my son and I are allergic to dairy. I first became sensitive to milk as a teen and it has escalated from there. My son, on the other hand, showed symptoms of dairy allergy the very first time it was introduced it to him. I then had him checked out by our Naturopath and had the allergy testing formally done.

Being allergic to dairy really sucks. It is in everything. However, as an adult I can suck it up…my son, not so much. He gets really distraught that every "cool" thing has dairy in it. All types of chips (other than natural), all chocolate (unless it is from a health food store), and cookies, cupcakes, crackers and pretty much anything processed. This leads to a really healthy lifestyle, but he pines for the same things that his friends have. Goldfish and Dunkaroos - why cant you have a dairy-free option?!

The Whole Stash

Halloween is especially problematic. I would wager that 80% of the candy given out is chocolate, so to over come this we go twice the distance that we regularly would because when you sort it all out you are left with less than half the stuff they collected…and then when you take out the gross things (like black liquorice and no - name gummy candies) and the Jawbreakers (that they can't have yet), we are left with a 1/6th of the stash.

Non-Milk

Milk Products

Now, obviously my kids are disappointed by this and so we came up with a couple ways so to soften the blow. After we go through all the candy we put half of the castoffs on the front porch for the Switch Witch to come and collect it and leave a toy for them instead. This is such a win-win for us as the kids are happy to give away the candy and I am happy that there are no tears!

Switch Witch to the Rescue!

Here is a great video by Mama Natural about the Switch Witch.




Another thing that we do is go to our local Candy Buy Back. There are many different incarnations of the Buy Back and not all operate the same way. For the most part they are organized by dentists who all have a party the day after Halloween and pay the kids a dollar a pound for their unwanted Halloween candy. (my particular dentist also donates a pound of apples to our local food bank for every pound of candy that collected.)

Isn't he Cute?!

This is great for us because the chocolate bars are going to get thrown out anyway - so does it really matter if it is my dentist's trash bin or mine?

I know a lot of moms like the idea of the Buy Back just not the trash part, and I agree somewhat, but not for the waste of candy, more for the adding to the landfill. My particular dentist made a great YouTube video that shows exactly why they throw out the candy and how they are hoping to convert it into fuel in the upcoming years. That way more families will get on board.

Are you a fan of the Switch Witch or the Buy Back? Or are you completely against them? Share your comments below.

Spook-tacular October

Well, it's here.

Friendly Jack-O-Lantern

It's officially October.

I wait all year long for this month as Halloween is my absolute favourite holiday. I love the decorations, I love the food, I love the creepiness, but also the fun and sweetness that Halloween can be.

My 3 Ghouls

No other holiday takes you door to door to actually get to know your community. The community spirit and the true focus on children is what I love about this time of year.






Every year I go all out, so this month there *may* be many more posts than usual as I try to fit in everything that I do for just this one month - they will go back to normal I promise…

Franken-Army

I am also visiting BlissDom this month which is a social media confrene and the FIRST time I have ever left my kids for a weekend.

Make sure that you follow me on YouTube and Pinterest as there will be a flury of activity there for the next 4 weeks.

It's shaping up to be an incredibly busy month - and I can't wait!!

Ler's get this show on the road! 

                                                     

Homeschooling =/= School at Home

We are homeschoolers.

Last year was our first *official* year of registering with a school board with the intent to homeschool. Before that my son went to kindergarten in a regular public school and before that I "home schooled" preschool (but I also owned a preschool at the time so it wasn't too much of a stretch).

Of course when we decided to homeschool we came across many different opinions of why we should not. Allowing him to be behind in academics was one concern, another was not being able to be on the sports teams within his school,  or not having access to IP programs and aides for his ADHD. The biggest concern that friends and family had (and perfect strangers for that matter), was socialization.

Socialization is such a funny concept though, because if you look at our society as a whole, the schools idea of socialization and putting children into little boxes that are all the same age group isn't really how the real world works. We mix together with children of different ages, ethnicity and backgrounds (both educational and economic). So to say that one has to go to their neighbourhood public school to be socialized is erroneous at best.

Watch: Ken Robinsons Talk on Learning Revolution

Another common misconception is the "what exactly do you teach him?" What don't I teach him? If you go to your local provinces guidelines for education outcomes you can see that the ones for elementary school are really quite basic. Some of the learning outcomes kids already know before they go into the system and others can be taught by a variety of methods outside the traditional classroom.

"But you are not a teacher!" That is right. I am not trained as a professional teacher, and I don't pretend to be. I am one of those homeschooling parents who contracts out for my kids education. I look at their strengths and weaknesses and my strengths and weaknesses and I find the ones that mesh and the ones that don't.

My son goes to a particular program that is really well suited for children with ADHD in my city, and we are so lucky that it is available. He goes to classes two days a week where the professional teachers teach math, science, social and English in a thematic based approach. (Thematics means all of the subjects together, and project based). This is a wonderful approach for a child with a short attention span who can't be bothered, or gets bored, doing worksheets. The rest of the week we have other classes. Swimming lessons for gym, piano lessons for music, and an incredible City Ecosystems class for getting outside and learning about habitats every single week. (which also means me living in my car for hours on end…)

We do have days where all we do is science experiments with kits that we have bought at Scholars Choice or from The Magic School Bus. We do math games, games for learning, games for writing, and games for reading all just for fun. Not scheduled, just thrown in whenever we have a spare time to learn. We also have days when we do nothing but play and read and learn just by living. It's this balance that is so wonderful for our family, and why I choose to continue the path that we are on.

Learning is all around you. It doesn't have to be so rigid and doing what works best for your family and your child is really all that matters in the end. So if you are thinking that homeschooling needs to look like something in order for it to work, re-evaluate and see that parenting doesn't have to look like something for it to work as each and every parent will do it differently…and that is okay too.

                                                       My Vlog about Car-schooling. :P

Corn Maze Fun for Everyone

Fall in Calgary the last couple of years has been as hot as the summer. Since the winter can drag on we try to get out and enjoy ourselves as much as we can during these warm September and October days. Finding things to do is never a problem, but we like to do things that are outside and close to home. Since the Calgary Corn Maze is only 20 mins outside of the city it was a perfect outing for our family to enjoy each other and the weather. 

Visiting the Calgary Corn Maze

We love visiting the maze, so much so that we get a seasons pass every single year. There is so much to do that we usually come at least 3 or 4 times a month, which is really well worth the value. Also, my youngest son is under 2 so he is still free. (which is always a bonus). 

The Calgary Corn Maze adds new attractions each year so my kids are always excited to try out the old and the new. Plus the maze itself changes as well. 

First thing on the agenda was to go to the "Little Kids" maze. This maze is a really fun one for both the kids and the adults. The point is to find 5 different stations and colour each one of your fingers with the chalk provided. It can change every time, and each person can have a different sequence depending on the fingers that they have chosen to colour. 

"Just one finger!!!"

This maze is small enough that you can let the kids take the lead and get "lost". One year the owners let us know that if you always went right, you would find all the stations and get out quickly (if you had small children that were melting). This maze only takes about 15-30 mins, depending on how many times you get lost and how much you allow your 4 year old to choose the route. At the end of the maze there is a big board with all the colour combinations that give you a "task" to do that corresponds. I felt it was ironic that my middle child was to "act like a wrestler." He joyfully accepted the task!

See the glint in his eyes?

After the kids corn maze we decided to check out the petting zoo. My sons love goats for some reason, and so they ran as fast as they could to their enclosure. On the way, we noticed people lining up next to the pig pen and a man came out to tell us that the piglets were going to be racing. Pig racing!! How cute! We each chose a colour and cheered on our little pigs. Pigs may be one the smartest animals on the planet - but these 4 pigs were a little slow to the gate. Green came away the winner for the first race and then for the second heat. I think this was because he was the only one not concerned with getting grass in his belly! The race after lunchtime was much more of a nail biter! 

"Here, piggy, piggy, piggy!"

We headed off to see the rest of the animals. There were bunnies, chickens, and ducks to see and they did not disappoint. My middle child spotted the "yellow ducky" race and had to challenge his older brother in a game or two (or three, or four or five - you know what? I lost count really). The duck race was really a hit. It is so neat to see as well as all it is; is a piece of pipe and an old fashioned water pump. However, this was a real draw for all of the kids there and they all really wanted to have a turn. 

"Yellow Ducky, you're the one!"

We stopped at this point to eat our lunch and play on the fabulous new playground. The Calgary Corn Maze does have a concession. It sells the regular food that you would expect. Hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, chips, pop, ice-cream and Popsicles. We decided that we would just brown bag it as we are vegetarian and you never know if concessions will have suitable food. I have heard that the food is really good - but I cannot comment for myself. After we had our lunch and played for a little while, the husband spotted a cow train. I have absolutely no idea how he squeezed himself in there. I had a hard time and I am only a small little lady. The sacrifices that we do for fun…I mean, our children.

Looks pretty cozy.

Since this was the first time that the husband had been to the Corn Maze with us, I wanted to show him the big maze. The kids were not as interested as there was a time when I owned my preschool that they had gotten a little traumatized by it. It was late October, it was super cold, and we were not properly dressed. We had a field trip and it was mainly little babies and their 3 year old siblings. We allowed the kids to choose the route and got incredibly lost. We walked for quite a long time before the moms started to bail out of the "emergency exits". I promised the kids that it would not happen again. (we were much more prepared and hey, daddy was with us!)

We did both phases of the maze. It was in the shape of a big gorilla and the boys liked to jump on it's head and arms etc. My husband carried the map so that we could make it out in a reasonable amount of time. (and yes, I know it was cheating). The coolest thing is that they actually have nights where you can do the maze in the dark, and if we got some childcare, we would do that for sure. Flashlights and a corn maze, how fun is that?! (unless you are Mel Gibson.) 

Running through the maze! 

Last but not least the kids visited the 3 different slides that the Corn Maze has to offer. Tip for moms - dress the kids in farm appropriate attire. The bike track, and the bouncy pillows had to be the biggest hits for my kids. Now, I am not a huge fan of these things because I like to be in control and even the dads like to double bounce whoever is on the pillows..so if you have little toddlers that want to bounce, send someone with good balance or go during a weekday when all the big kids (and dads!!) are at school/work. 

My kids spent a good half an hour on these bouncy pillows. They loved to run across them and double bounce each other - much to my dismay. But, in the end, they loved them so mommy just has to learn to let go a little bit more. 

We stayed at the Calgary Corn Maze for over 4 hours and STILL did not see all of the attractions. We had an awesome time (as always) and we will be back again for sure. 

If you want to get more information about the Calgary Corn Maze you can visit their website here or like them on Facebook.

***This was not a sponsored post - I just love this place and wanted to share it with my local readers***

A Hidden Gem - Patterson Springs Farm

Big Sky

If there is one thing I like to do it is going on outing with my kids. The more we go out the less mess that they can make inside my house and the less work I have in the long run! After a long vacation and even longer car rides back I was excited to see that my friend Lindsie, who runs Patterson Springs Farm with her mom, was having a farm play day!

My Yummy CSA

I already love Patterson Springs Farm for the yummy CSA that I get each week and wanted to show the boys exactly where their food comes from. I called it homeschooling - and my husband called it an excuse to visit my friends. Can't argue with that - it is really the best of both worlds.

When we got there after a short drive from southeast Calgary, we were instantly surrounded by an idyllic setting. I have always wanted my kids to grow up in the country - but we honestly can't afford it and I honestly don't think I could handle the work of running a farm by myself for the most part. Being able to go to Patterson Springs and just walk around the property and explore is a really nice treat.

Rock Staircase up to the Garden

Since it was the Farm Play Day (which they have once a month) there were plenty of other mothers around to talk with and for the kids to play with. Since it was a nice day the moms had just put their blankets on the lawn and were having a picnic. We packed our lunch too, so we just joined right in.

After lunch, Lindise took us on a tour of the upper garden. It was really cool to see where all the vegetables that we get from our CSA come from. And sadly, my boys did not recognise that this garden was food. It was a great learning opportunity where I was able to get down at their level and show them what a carrot and an onion look like while still growing in the ground. The kids especially loved the sunflowers and played around them for a couple moments before heading to the bees.

Sunflowers surrounding the Veggies

Lindsie showing off her Bees! 

My son holding a piece of honeycomb.

I am not a huge fan of bees as I am afraid of being stung, but I appreciate how important they are for pollination and for food production in general. (not to mention for the honey). Lindsie carefully separated the comb so that the kids could see where honey comes from. My kids were enthralled. My eldest one loved seeing all the hexagons inside the honeycomb and took a piece home for his nature collection.



After we had seen the bees the kids ran down to visit the animals. We buy our eggs from Patterson Springs as well so the kids wanted to help feed the chickens. We had an impromptu lesson on why not to put your fingers in the cage for too long! The chickens wanted a taste of my little ones fingers!! It was so funny to see the surprised look on his face!

Careful not to get your fingers nipped!

The kids really enjoyed feeding the animals and the highlight of the day was when my middle child was able to feed the goats. These are his favorite animal and they were so friendly and trying very hard to say hello. We spent some time down by the animals as the kids just wanted to keep feeding them. Once they were done we headed back up to the farmhouse for a potty break, and a snack.

This goat was hilarious.

Magic Show

While having our snack Lindsie's son shared his magic tricks with us. He is my oldest son's best friend and so they were happy to be the magician and assistant for the duration of the show. Another friend of Lindsie's shared a Waldorf inspired puppet show with the kids about fall after the magic show. I was surprised how my kids sat so quietly and attentively for this soft, beautiful performance.

The Yurt

We ended the day by grabbing some more snacks in the Yurt (which is used much more in the Winter Farm Play Day's as it has a fireplace). The adults chatted while the kids played inside and outside until their hearts content.

As we left Patterson Springs, I felt a sense of gratitude that these ladies open up their home once a month to share it with city dwellers to get away from the hustle if only for a day.

For more information visit www.pattersonspringsfarm.com or like them on facebook.

Lindsie and Lousie (mom&daughter) owners of the farm.

*This is not a sponsored post - all opinions are my own.*