Friends from Dad's alma mater gathered for some good, clean, fall fun in the backyard of Mom's alma mater; a perfect combination.
We all piled (comfortably) into a house on Lake Michigan with games and food and campfires on the beach -- delightful! I love weekends away! And though the lake, the yard, and our companions were enough for all of us, it was an afternoon on a farm in Holland, MI was a highlight for Calvin.
Sunny and warm and surprisingly comfortable, our gang thoroughly enjoyed a hayride through the country. I mean, c'mon, we were being pulled by a
tractor! For Calvin there were laps-a-plenty and shoes hidden in the hay to untangle.
Calvin was definitely the country kid among this group of city slickers. Seeing a petting zoo on every corner this fall, he's quite comfortable around animals. He'd grab a handful of food and stride up until he was face to face with the sheep. One 'bah-ed' at him and he responded in kind: 'bah!'
If that wasn't enough, this farm boasted a hay maze. Familiar? It's a maze of hay bales fully covered over by
more hay bales. This means that you crawl through darkness; enough to turn off more than a few adults. Calvin? Nah. He went through once with Dad, came out smiling, turned on his heels and went back in by himself. He surfaced again quickly,still smiling, and went in
again! This continued until we were ready to go. Even then, we had to go in for him. We're thinking about a new theme for his bedroom; anyone know where we can get some hay bales?
Calvin climbed up with Dad and Grandma and found a comfy place to enjoy the ride. Round and round they went. But one ride wasn't enough. I think they rode six times in all, trying a different animal each time. Horses, dolphins, polar bears ... this carosel had them all.
