The Landers' Life: Barnyard Basics

This past Sunday afternoon, we made our very first trip to the Tuscaloosa Barnyard. We've seriously lived here for almost five years (four of those years with a baby who is an animal fanatic) knowing this place existed but just hadn't been before (The little fact that they are only open to the public on Friday mornings and special weekends may have something to do with why we've haven't been until now, but who am I to say?).

But with three months off and really no excuses not to go (other than maybe not feeling up to the stress that can sometimes come from getting an extra person dressed and out the door - which means doing things like tallying up how many times he'll need to eat while we're out and packing basically a suitcase of stuff that has to go along with him - while answering the thousands of questions from his older brother like, "Will there by cows, Mommy? Can I ride on them? What about chickens, Mommy? Will they peck me? How many times til we get there? Are you ready to go, Mommy?" and waiting for the weather to warm up enough), I put Take a Trip to The Tuscaloosa Barnyard on my Bucket List of things to do during my time off.

And man, I'm so glad I did.

Of course, by the look on Parker's face, I'm not so sure he's glad I put it on my Bucket List. But oh my heck, I could just go into his room and pinch him right where he sleeps for being so dang adorable with this duckling they had.

We didn't find any cows for Jake to ride.

We found a Shetland pony named Trigger instead.

He served the purpose just fine,

and Jim did too. He held Parker and ducklings, washed dirty hands, bought souvenirs, warned Jake about mother hens, and prepared lunch for a hungry twelve-week old.

There were piglets - over-the-top friendly, squealing, hungry piglets (I definitely can't remember when I've seen anything on four legs so, so cute.