Today Little G and I had the most wonderful visit to Maplewood Farm, a little piece of rural paradise tucked at the base of Mount Seymour in North Vancouver.  The sun was shining, the temperature was just right, and although it was a busy day due to Spring Break, we never felt crowded or rushed. Gracen had the freedom to roam and explore, but always stayed near.  We slowly made our from paddock to paddock, visiting the animals and taking in the nature along the way.  It was perfect.  Here’s a very small sampling of photos from the hundreds I managed to take during our 2 hour visit…

First stop – visiting this colourful feathery friend.

Visiting the turkeys.

An adorable miniature donkey.

Hanging out with the hens.

Roaming with the roosters.

Taking in the garden and its visitors.

One of Gracen’s favourites.

She wanted to come back to visit this beautiful peacock again and again.

A new friend.

These Belgian draft horses, Tom and Prince, were another favourite.  Gracen watched them very closely as they lowered their heads and exhaled deeply while letting their lips flap together and then mimicked this behaviour during the remainder of our visit.

Enamoured with the horses.  I think she would have stayed here all morning if I hadn’t convinced her to move on.

Taking a break and watching the ducks on the pond.

Exploring.

Collecting bits of nature, as usual.

Offering the ducks a twig.  For some reason, they weren’t all that enthused.  Weird.

Getting a sneak peak of the farm’s jersey cow.

Watching the sheep.

In the forest paddock.  So amazing that this is part of the city.

Grae thought this goat was pretty funny and giggled at him again and again while calling him “Papa”…  Not sure what that’s about other than we have a non-fiction book about goats that explains that male goats have beards and when we read it, I call them ‘papa goats’.  Maybe she was making the connection?

The highlight of the trip was being able to go into the goat visiting area and actually touch the goats.

Miss G was brave!

I showed her how to hold her hand out flat for the goats to smell first, and that’s exactly what she did.

This teeny tiny baby goat was experiencing his first day outside with the public and was a hit with all of the visitors.

Waving goodbye.

These little guys were just roaming around as we made our way over to the hand washing station.

Checking out Sofie and Judy III, the giant hereford cows.  Of course Gracen moo-ed at them as she tried to wedge her little wrist through the wire fence to pet their fur.

Visiting the rabbits.  Gracen stood up and signed ‘Rabbit sleeping’ after seeing this chubby bunny.

Stopping to see Gus the goose.

Inside the cement duck pond visiting area.

Getting a close up view of Lima, the jersey cow.

Lunch break!

We loved the goat visiting area so much that we had to go back to visit once more before leaving the farm.

Lucky for us, it was much less busy the second time around and Grae got to put it some quality time with her goat friends.

Saying goodbye for real this time.

After this visit, we may just have a little future farmer on our hands.

Last stop, the Maplewood Farm playground.

A perfect way to end a lovely morning outdoors!

Our trip ended with a very content little lady falling asleep in her car seat as we drove back into Vancouver.  When we arrived at home, I transferred her into her crib, where she lays now, still sleeping, over two hours later.  I’d say the fresh air, sunshine, and farm life tired her right out…  Yay for that.