The Farm

Dale said he thinks I like the farm better than the kids, and he may be right. Since it's my blog, I'll share the whole story.

A couple years back, we had stopped for gas on the way home and I saw the ad on a bench for Aunt Tude's Farm. It looked like something the kids would like and I made a mental note to try again the next time we were up.

We did. We stumbled on to what is going to be an annual tradition if I have my way. For my city kids, this is something completely different. All of them have a wonderful time; even Rachel got the idea of opening her hand to feed the animals.

This farm provides an opportunity to:
1. Bottle-feed baby animals (goat, lamb, or last year a piglet)
2. Hold a chick or duckling
3. Milk a cow. Really.
4. Throw a cob of corn to a pig
5. Horse-drawn hay ride around the farm
6. Hand-feed goats, sheep, and llamas
7. Tube-feed a donkey (drop food down a pipe. Donkeys bite.)
8. Throw corn to chickens, ducks, geese, and peacocks
9. See an ostrich; compare her egg to a chicken's
10. Collect said chicken's egg for a prize
11. Have a pony ride
12. Hold a kitten, or last year really little puppies
13. Ride kid-sized pedal tractors
14. Swing from a rope inside the barn (like Fern and Avery)
15. Crawl through a hay-bale maze

All for $5 a child, $4 adults as much as you can stand. They have a picnic area and encourage you to move the tables into or out of the sun as you wish. The only things they sell are cans of pop, so you'll want to bring your own meal. But there are no souvenirs to deny begging children and that's on purpose.
For the fastidious (or maybe just sane), they have the Purell hand sanitizer dispensers about every 30-40 feet and they provide wipes in your bucket. And you may wish to bring quarters for the additional food dispensers by the sheep, llamas, and goats.

Where is this Eden? On Chappel Dam Road, north of M-61 west of Gladwin. If you're within an hour's drive or so, or really interested, it's well worth the trip. Watch your timing, though, as it's open Fri/Sat/Sun and not 7 days. Aunt Tude's listed under "zoos" in the local phone book, but don't let it fool you. It's a real farm--right down to the smell.