AKA: The Opposite of the Tower of London
Today (yay! I’m caught up!) we went to a farm in London.
Yes, that’s right, a farm! in London! About 10 minutes from our hotel, actually!
(that picture reminds me a bit of Central Park with the contrast of city vs nature)
It was suggested to me by an English reader of mine (hi Freya!) and I decided that it was just the change of pace that we needed.
Did I mention that it was free?
And that the children could run amongst the animals at will?
(You could just go on in)
Isaac was in heaven.
He really is a “free range” child.
And it was so nice to just let him be.
This picture is pretty much the epitome of my two children:
(Isaac is banging on the gate as hard as he can to be let in to the goat pin)
Isaac dives right in to life and lives it, kissing goats, grabbing their ears, getting pecked by chickens, sniffing pigs, he is LIVING LARGE.
(waiting to kiss one. He succeeded)
He learns by getting after it.
And Joseph is my cautious one. My observer.
He prefers to stay by me and ask millions of questions
(“Where is that goat’s Mommy?” “Why do some goats have horns and some don’t?” “If that sound is a goat talking, what does a goat CRYING sound like?” “Careful, Mama, remember you are allergic to horses!”)
He learns by contemplating and absorbing and experimenting.
It is fun to have both, and challenging to respect both kinds of…well… being and making them flow together.
Let me stop before I get too deep this late at night, and finish by saying that my favorite part was this piping hot cup of tea and a slice of fresh, warm, lemony (An English thing?) carrot cake
and watching my muddy (and not so muddy, respectively “Careful Mama! That might be poopoo! Let’s walk over on this part”) children’s happy faces.
Do you remember that I have no washing machine?
Such is life.
6 comments:
I love the way Joseph takes care of you, tells you to be careful, reminds you of your allergies, comes to get you when Isaac is in trouble, etc. What a "caring" little boy. That is nature, it can't be taught, and he is a sweetheart!
I am SO glad that you are blogging this trip. What wonderful memories you are making and I love that you are sharing them all with us.
I love how you are seeing the wonderful differences between the two boys. How wonderful. I am just enjoying this trip … and I think this is a going to be such a wonderful thing to look back and read later on.
I sympathize, I have no washing machine either! (mine broke way back in May or June... sigh!) But on the upside you're having so much fun, you probably don't even notice the dirty clothes!!
I'm glad you're making all these memories and exploring some of the lesser known parts of London. and taking lots and lots of photos!! Your kids are going to benefit from it, I know!
Amazing the differences (and similarities) between your two sons. :) enjoy it! :)
I love that you are seeing some of the not-so-conventional London tourist sites. Your boys are awesome and that farm looked like a ton of fun. You are much calmer than I. The whole time I was looking at Isaac and the goat I was thinking "ahhh, e-coli, e-coli, e-coli. I hope they have hand sanitizer stations placed strategically around the farm".
Wahoo, I got a mention! I'm basically famous now, right?!
I have to say, it's completely surreal seeing pictures of you so nearby to where I live when normally they're of you guys on the other side of the world. Surreal, but cool.
Hope today brought even more fun. But possibly less mud...
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