Our week at the farm

A couple of weeks ago we had the rare pleasure of spending a whole week outside of major cities, enjoying some great time with family. It was so refreshing both to be in the country and get to reconnect with people who we don't get to see very often. We followed Tiffany and Dylan around our first morning, impressed at how a 2-year old knows the routine of feeding the donkeys and the dogs, letting out the sheep and ducks.

We took a couple of short hikes through the woods, with a spectacular view of Mt. Shasta. We woke up to the incredible sounds of donkeys braying. It sounds remarkably like a large truck honking, in my opinion! We were in the kitchen one day, and heard the honest phrase "llama on the loose!". How often do you hear that??
We enjoyed the slower pace of life, the conversations, enjoying the community. We were especially impressed by the community gardens and the new arboretum that Bob's sister has been involved in. One highlight of the week was the Thanksgiving parade, an amazing show of community support that was really inspiring!

And, of course, we built things. Restaurants, sky-scrapers, zoos, buildings to be painted, anything that a young active imagination with a penchant for construction could come up with. It was great fun, and we're so grateful for those every-day moments to reconnect with the people we love!
One more rare experience from the week was our first attempt at making a pie. We even made and rolled the crusts from scratch! I think we have quite a way to improve before it will really be picture-worthy, but it was a great attempt, and delicious! We even used Tiffany's home-grown apples, which probably helped!