Cowfest!

We all survived Cowfest and although it didn't go exactly as originally planned, I think everyone had fun.

The first twist in the plan came several weeks ago when we realized that Memory Lane Dairy had been sold to Hiland and there would be no farm tour.  We still got Memory Lane milk in chocolate, strawberry, and orange dreamsicle flavors.  We did a little taste test of all three.  They are so rich and creamy it's like liquid dessert.  The kids split on chocolate and strawberry and I thought the orange was awesome!  It was the perfect drink to go with our grilled cheese sandwiches as we discussed where milk comes from; that the black and white cows are the main milk producers; what other products we love like cheese that are made from milk;  And even how back in the old days....so old, it never happened at my house....milk used to be delivered and left beside the back door.

We told cow jokes, read cow poems, and did activity sheets of various difficulties depending on the age of the kid.  Then they settled down to check out the pictures in a photo book from Chicago's Cows On Parade.  If you aren't familiar with that fabulous exhibit, here are the basic details.  From June to October 1999, the city of Chicago was dotted with life size cow statues that had been decorated by various artists including George Rodrigue who is famous for his Blue Dog art.  He actually had three cows on display on Michigan Avenue.  The kids were more interested in these cows than I had even hoped, laughing at the silly ones, and picking their favorites.  It also was a perfect introduction to the whimsy of the cow quilts.

The quilts were presented one at a time and the kids shouted out who they thought it was for.  They matched each quilt with the right child so I knew I'd done well.  The kids loved their quilts.

The day ended as we headed off to look at some live cows.  Now that shouldn't have been a big deal, as there are cow pastures all around us, but it was so hot the cows had all moved far away from the road.  We finally tracked down a handful which were all greeted with moos before we headed home.

I'd say Cowfest was a success.  I wonder what we'll do next summer.

Cows are finished

"Dairy Tales" for Morgan.  Cow and Castle with princess, Disney princess and Snow White fabrics.

"Winnie The Moo" for Mackenzie.  Cow in Pooh red sweater with 3 different Pooh fabrics and a teddy bear fabric background.

"Super Moo" for Jack.  Superhero cow with cape in Superman, Batman, and Spiderman prints flying over a city skyline of Spiderman fabric.

"Monkey See Monkey Moo" for Mallory.  Cow with 2 pink monkey prints, with green monkey print fabric in the background.

"Chugga Chugga Moo Moo" for Lucas.  Cow standing on a flatbed rail car pulled by an engine with Thomas fabric and three railroad fabrics.

All in all, they came out pretty cute, I think.  Each is tailored to the kid's specific interests.  I think they'll like them.  I'll try to post Cowfest pictures after the actual event.

Hold Still

Just try to get 5 kids to hold still, and smile for a group picture.  It seems to be impossible with my bunch.  Every time I have them all in one place I try for this.  Most times, I can't even get them all in one spot for long enough to aim the camera.  For this attempt, they couldn't decide on sitting or standing.  Rather than fuss with them, I figured some could sit and some could stand.  Not your studio pose, but oh well.  And then, every picture I tried where they were actually looking at me, Jack was standing at the back, arm raised like he was holding the statue of liberty.  I'm not sure what that was all about.  It was the fourth...or Captain America Day according to Bubba.  I realized they had better things to do like swing, play with the dog, or eat desserts, so I gave up. I guess that's alright.  It all sounds more fun than just sitting still, and there will be plenty of more photo ops in the future.  But, they are a great bunch of little kids, don't you think?

P.S. I changed the background.  I don't know where this city is.  I just thought it was fun.  I wish I could change the walls in my house so easily.