I had quite a surprise yesterday morning at 6:45. I was the only one up and everyone else was supposed to be on vacation of sorts. Of course Chris will debate that thought, and Mom always sleeps in anyway. I was working at my computer when I heard an unusual sound. Not a "someone's breaking into the house" sound. It was musical. Sort of. I didn't recognize the sound at all, so I went into tracking mode. Finally narrowed it down to the hall bathroom. Back behind Josh and Christi's personal hygiene kit, up near the wall, I finally located it. Josh was charging his phone. And he had set his alarm. I didn't know how to turn it off. I know. I have the same phone. But I haven't attempted to figure that one out yet. I did figure out the snooze button, though. Well, I turned the phone on and the only button showing was the option to snooze. And about that time Josh walked in from their bedroom.
It was good he was up anyway. Yesterday we were scheduled to go to Manvel, Texas, to a Christmas tree farm. Kel and his family actually set it up. They found out about it through a home school support group they are in. Nathan and his family found out about it, and April's aunt lives on the same road, so they joined us as well. Now how could we resist? Every single grandchild in one place at one time and all their parents would be there. That meant all we had to do was enjoy the kids. We wouldn't have to worry about discipline in any shape, form or fashion.
The website advertised live animals, hayrides, apple cider and more. And the animals were first up as we entered from the parking lot. I was carrying Josiah, and he saw them first. "Chickie. Chickie." I didn't think he had just seen the toddler of his dreams, but I wasn't sure what he was referring to. I finally did locate the source of his excitement, though. A chicken. One white chicken strutting around a fenced in area. OK. About the time I zeroed in on the chicken, Josiah started up with "Baaah. Baaah." I knew the game now, so I looked around for the sheep. Hey, I was always pretty good at Old McDonald had a farm. I wasn't prepared for what I saw, though. There were indeed two shaggy creatures about the size of sheep. They looked kind of sickly, though, for sheep. The hair wasn't curly and the heads appeared to be misshapen grotesquely. It was a sad sight, indeed, but I was happy for them. They had found a purpose in life as pet-able creatures in a petting zoo. Oh, wait a minute. As we neared the pen I was able to make it out. They weren't sheep at all. They were little shaggy horses. As Cailyn later said, they were the perfect size for her "when I'm a cowboy."
That was the extent of the animals, if you don't count the dog that was running around. There were a lot of Christmas trees growing all around, though. And the kids took off in a dead run toward them. We followed dutifully behind at a much slower pace, since we still had Josiah. He was fascinated by the experience of nature around him. He walked up to tree after tree, some only about as tall as he was. Slowly he reached out to them, and gently, oh so gently, touched branch. And in a voice of awe and wonder he said, time after time, "Tree." Chris finally responded, "Josiah, you are one little city boy."
After a trek through the trees we returned to the front part of the property where the kids played King of the Hill and follow the leader and several other make-believe games on three of those big hay bales or rolls or whatever you call them (Josiah wasn't the only city boy out there). There was also a sliding hill. Not a very tall one, mind you. To watch the kids go down after time after time on the little plastic sleds, you would have thought they were in the mountains in three feet of snow. They laughed and shared sleds and pulled each other down. Ah the joys of being an Islander on a mountain. Even if the mountain was just four or five feet tall.
After our picnic lunch we jumped on a trailer full of hay pulled by a tractor and headed out for our hayride. Mr. Green Jeans (AKA our driver) was great with the kids. He stopped every so often and pointed out wild oranges and blackberries, and even did a lesson on tree rings. I'm not sure how much Josh and Chris enjoyed that particular experience, though. They kept sinking down into the hay as we bumped along.
It was a great day at a great price. We didn't buy a tree, and because of the special agreement with the homeschool group, adults were free. All of us kids were pretty tired and most of us fell asleep in the car on the way home. Glad I wasn't driving.
Isaiah 25:9 says, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."
Father, thank you for the reckless abandon of children's play we got to see and even be a part of yesterday. Help us remember how to do that. I figure we'll need it when see you. Amen.
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