Last week the kids and I made the ten-hour drive to “Nana and Papa’s farm.” I arrived late at night and slept in the next morning. When I got up, my three-year-old son glanced up from his fire truck and said, “Mom, there are some funny animals outside.” I looked out to see the neighbor’s cows grazing in the back field… “Buddy, did you really not know those were cows?!” He came over, saw that (of course) they were cows, and (attempting to recover) said, “Hmm. Well, cows are funny animals!” 🙂

Later, my two-year-old daughter asked to go see the “pigs” (grazing out in the field). After we had watched cows for a while, my other daughter piped up, “Now can we go see the elephants?!” Good grief! A country home does not a farm kid make. My husband is using this to justify raising a bucket calf when we move back. (And everyone who knows him knows what that means… cattle farming, here we come!)

I also came home with some hand-me-downs that my little sister passed along to me. This made me extremely happy. She has good taste, and I only venture out for clothes-shopping with four young kids if I’m really desperate. I’m sure the fashionistas out there will be shocked and dismayed that I turned down these, though:

safari camouflage

My daughter had so much fun with them that my mom kept them for her dress-up box.

dress up day

On to camera things… In the top shoe picture, the aperture is wide for a shallow depth of field, making much of the photo out of focus. I’m enjoying taking pictures that way, for people as well as objects. I discovered, though, that for sunny day shots of active kids, shallow depth of field is much less desirable! A narrower aperture for longer depth of field would have resulted in sharper focus for many shots on this trip. There are some keepers, though.

patiently posed

My son was a good sport, posing in front of my parents’ red barn. (He’s not a good sport with a comb.) Shots like these are nice… but when it comes to a memory, most of what he and I remember was, “Mom was bribing me to stand there.” Not much story behind that one.

Not so with this shot:

straight from the nest

Or this one:

oops

My dad’s comment: It often happens that one person’s tragedy is another’s triumph. My comment: It’s a dog-eat-egg world.

no crying over broken eggs

The trip was refreshing, full of old hand-me-downs, the comfort of my parents’ familiar hospitality, and new memories with the kids. Gifts come in many forms, and this week, it was little gestures that brought me joy. There is value in offering whatever we have, whether it’s a kind word, a new talent, or an old pair of jeans.

offering her favorite

shared interest

care for the smallest