E-I-E-I-O... Yee hah!

The anticipation had been building all week, and I am really starting to think that I should get out a bit more often.  Is it appropriate for a 33 year old to be more excited about a visit to a farm than her children?  Denim, checkered shirt knotted at the waist, boots and hair in piggy tails... what, too much?  The Farm Pasquè is located in the hills of Varese and was our destination on this fine Saturday morning, we accompanied 100 others in an organised excursion by our daughters asilo nido, (nursery).

At the farm we saw  many kinds of domestic animals such as cows, horses, donkeys, pigs, sheep, goats, rabbits, geese, turkeys, ducks, roosters and hens, capons, and guinea fowl.  These animals were all accompanied by the stench of tinkle and dung burdened hay piles.  (Farms are fun places, but I would suggest the introduction of barn yard deodoriser to boost return visits.) We also found wild boars, guinea pigs, ferrets , Bismarck rabbits, bantam roosters, Tibetan goats, Shetland ponies and llamas.

We were guided around the entire farm and educated about the general day to day activity of milking cows, feeding the animals, etc.  It was all in Italian, so I did not leave any smarter than when I arrived, I did however find myself giggling with others when the guide would throw a joke into his speeches.  (Seemed easier this way then asking my husband for constant translation.) 

The children had a great time throwing hay at the cows heads, poking animals thru fences and they even got to make their own cheese.  The day ended with a delicious supplied lunch of fresh produce made on the farm, and a smashed glass on the floor. (This occured 2 seconds after the "Please don't play with the glass, it might break" comment.)  The beauty of this setting, was that being surrounded by so many other families, our embarassments and performances seemed to blend with the behaviours of others, enabling us to go slighty unnoticed.  A great day was had by all, I love finding something new to do with the children outside.