Baby Animal Days

Per tradition, the girls (me, Pearl, my Mom, Emily, Ruby, and Anberlin) went to Baby Animal Days at the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville. I love Baby Animal Days! Mainly because it helps me remember that at one time I wanted to live on a farm.

And have a baby calf. 

But my Dad said no. I'm not bitter or anything, even 18 years later, reminiscing about the time he told me I couldn't have a baby cow. {I had a pasture and hay all figured out} OK. I'm still bitter.

Please, Dad?! Look how cute he is!

Fine. How about a baby pig?

Or a goat? The goats were super cute and fun to watch! Especially the little brown ones with long ears. Or the white and gray ones that kept jumping on their mommas. They are just like little puppies... only they try to eat your clothes. 

A donkey? They could come in handy. 

But not a chicken. They kind of creep me out. OK, like a lot creep me out. Chickens are just freaky.

Soft bunny rabbit? Please?

Nope. Even baby chickens are creepy. I don't want a chicken. 

And I hear from my Aunt Denise that "ducks suck." They had some from the Easter Bunny one year, and well, the experience was memorable to say the least. 

I'm fairly certain this poor momma cow was in labor. She was HUGE! And sounded miserable. And if you watched closely, her stomach would contract and she'd stop breathing for a few seconds like she was having contractions. I'd really, really want to take her calf home with cute white and red markings on it. 

Please, Dad? 

He can't say no to a work horse or two, can he? I mean, they would come in super handy pulling things around the yard.

And as much as I'd take a horse, I'm not real keen on ponies. They're kind of pre-Madonnas and grumpy. But Pearl and Ruby sure love them!

Peacocks are cool. But they're loud. 

 

A lamb? They're pretty cute and not nearly as smart as goats are.

 

Please, Dad! I promise I'll take care of it.

What have I done now?

What on earth have I agreed to now? {And yes, it has skulls, cemeteries, and the grim reaper on it.}

Heaven help me because both of my boys have THAT look in their eyes. And because now Jeff is going to say he needs a new trailer and a new truck to pull it with.

Follow the Sun

We decided to take a less formal {I say less formal because less spiritual just sounds bad} approach to our Young Women in Excellence program.

Which I am very grateful for because I am just plain worn out between work, motherhood, wife, trying to figure out how to get my dog to stop pissing off the Alpha male and eating his backyard, and all the responsibilities I seem to take on. 

We went with the "Follow the Sun" theme and had a beach party! Liz, our YW President, had this cool buzz system that she set up. The girls and their parents played a getting to you know you game and we also had a YW trivia game. I was impressed with how much the girls new about the YW program. Stuff I didn't even know like what colors are for which values. 

I set up a photo booth with everything beachy I could find laying around the house. I even hooked up my pink flamingo lights! The girls were told they needed to wear beach/summer attire but I think everyone was a little unsure if this was actually OK or not. So we had some props to help them beach-ify their outfits. 

After games and pictures, we had a smoothie bar. {Thanks to the Our Best Bites girls for all the tips} It was delicious! And super fun. The Stake Presidency loved the smoothies. I went all out and got every kind of frozen fruit I could find. I even bought three kinds of juices, yogurt, pineapple sherbert, and this cream of coconut stuff that made them oh so tropical! Yum! Best {and messiest} treat idea I've ever had!

Young Women's is a lot of work and time away from my own family. But I love those girls! They keep me young and help me remember who I am. It made my heart sing when I had a couple of the older girls tell me that this was the most fun they've ever had at a Young Women in Excellence! That simple thank you makes all the exhaustion and stress worth it.