I was intent on squeezing every last gram of summer weather out of Mother Nature and so Sunday was an outside day.
Ken and Reid went to the park in the morning while I went grocery shopping. Ken reported that Reid went on each piece of equipment – maybe she knows the warm weather is ending too – including three of the four swings and chased him with sand (who knows where that came from, eh, Karin?) They were on a bit of a walk in the treed area near the park when Reid needed to pee. He pulled down her underpants and shorts and had her squat. It didn’t work very well but that’s what happens when you’re a girl.
After lunch, Reid and I left Ken to his laundry and a nap (since we got them on Saturday and he didn’t) and went to the fall fair at Upper Canada Village. We saw horses, including a mama and baby, many cows, big and little, some mama baas, some baby baas and even a daddy baa. Reid knows the word “sheep” and will sometimes say it but she prefers to call them “baas”. She used to do the same with cows but switched to “dow” much more quickly (and when the hard “c” sounds comes will be all set). A glass of fresh pressed cider made Reid very popular with the bees – where were they when our pumpkin flowers needed them? We have hearty vines and beautiful flowers but no baby pumpkins; I’ve even tried to help nature along with a Q-tip with no success. That’s a story for another day, I guess, but if anyone has suggestions let me know.
After the horse show, we went for a ride on a barge pulled by a horse. That was a two-for-one treat. Reid got a boat ride and to watch a horse at the same time. We had a photo taken in costumes to look old fashioned. The quality of the print sucked. I may try scanning it but the result won’t be great. We finished our day looking at pigs, chickens and baby ducks – 12 of them to one mama duck as far as we could see. And, the best part, I think: we were in the barn at milking time! There were four cows to be milked and at least as many “farmers”. The one fellow asked Reid if she’d like to try and when she hesitated, he sat her on his lap and explained what was happening. I took a turn at milking – one lactating female to another :+). The cows were so toleranty! All sorts of kids and grown-ups were trying with various levels of success. The one man said that first you worked on getting the milk out of the cow and then you tried to get it in the pail. I only got as far as the first part. Reid eventually climbed off the fellow’s lap and went around to the other side and sat on a little milking stool and watched some more. She enjoyed the process much more than watching the machine milking at the Agriculture Museum that we saw a couple weeks ago. Interestingly, both museums milk at 4:00.
On our way out we stopped at the restaurant to use the bathroom. There were no paper towels and so I wiped Reid’s hands on my shorts. She insisted on washing her hands again and then wiped her hands on *her* dress. Reid needed a snack and so we stayed for tea. (I figured I should do the things Ken might not be as keen on when he wasn’t with us). Reid spied a small milk pitcher on a try of dirty dishes and wanted it. It was all I could do to convince her to wait until ours came. I put a splash of tea in her cup and let her add “just a little milk, Reid.” Well, she had most of a cup of milk poured before I could stop her. We ate our scone and fruit, or at least I ate the scone and a grape that I found hiding under the preserves bowl rim while Reid ate all of the other grapes with great gusto. She told me how yummy they were at one point but didn’t offer to share.
Then, it was time to head home to see Daddy. Reid was excited to see him and tell him about our day.