After Dinner Exploring

7 / 25 / 148 / 23 / 14

On the way home from visiting family this afternoon, Miss G napped in the car from about 3:30 until almost 6:00 p.m. Definitely not the best move for a little lady who is normally in bed for the night by 6:30 p.m., but I was car sick and the lack of questions being fired in my direction provided some much appreciated quiet. So a late car nap it was – meh. Key to not having a little lady up until 10 p.m., however, was getting outside and getting some fresh air and physical activity after dinner. So that’s what we did… Went exploring! We fed the cows, visited the Aunties, and collected berries and flowers along the way. The plan turned out perfectly and we had a bathed bubba happily tucked in bed by 8:30. And some pretty pictures of our evening adventure. ☺

Life On the Farm

6 / 21 / 146 / 22 / 14

After a fairly decent sleep last night given the fact that we just arrived back in Canada yesterday afternoon, Miss G and I were up early and ready to soak in the outdoors this morning. Lucky for us, my brother and sister-in-law live on a giant farm which they’ve recently begun converting into a petting zoo {okay, not for real, but my sister-in-law may have a serious small animal collecting problem}. With Grae’s two big boy cousins off to school for the morning, us girls went around the farm meeting and feeding the animals, picking dandelions, playing games, and jumping on the trampoline. After a splatter session at a local art studio, some shopping, and some dinner, we ended the day back outdoors, but this time with all of the cousins together.

Here is our day in photos…

Farm Life

8 / 12 / 138 / 28 / 13

Though all of my family members have slowly migrated away from the Okanagan and back to our home province of Alberta, we’re lucky to be able to stay with Brad’s parents while we enjoy the Okanagan sun. Gracen adores being here. The house {that Brad grew up in} is filled with treasures {new and old} to discover, Bella {her best fur buddy} lives here, and there’s endless space to run free.

One of her very favourite parts about being here is enjoying long morning walks with Grandma Charlotte and Bella. There’s a whole routine in place which involves puppy treats in a little bag, particular treat distribution spots, and a visit to the hay barn where shoeless antics take place. Today, with Uncle Brett home for the weekend but heading back to Vancouver at lunchtime, we all headed out for one last family walk before our big departure next week.

When this is all you know, it’s easy to take the beauty of the tree-covered mountains, blue skies, and sunshine for granted, but knowing how drastically our scenery will be changing shortly, I did my very best to soak every moment of this morning in…

“Com’on, Bella! Let’s run!”

A Vist to Kangaroo Creek Farm

8 / 8 / 138 / 30 / 13

It took us a while, but we finally made it to the Kangaroo Creek Farm in Winfield today. It’s been on our radar since visiting the zebra farm last summer, and I’m so glad we snuck it in before leaving.

Farm Life {Through my New Lens}

7 / 4 / 137 / 7 / 13

One of the things I was spoiled with on my recent birthday was a camera lens I’ve been lusting after for a long while now. Though I’ve only had it a few hours, I must say – I think I’m already in love! I took it along on a walk of the family farm tonight and here are some of the images I was able to snap…

As far as my new challenge goes, I have to say I’m loving it! My camera has remained in manual mode since the day of our workshop and every single photo I’ve taken since this post has been shot manually. They certainly haven’t all been good (in fact many have been pitch black), but after two months of practice, I can say without a doubt that I’m so glad I took the leap. My photos are slowly getting better, shooting in manual is much more natural now, and I have a ton more control on what my photos actually turn out like. And I can almost guarantee that this new lens will make the transition that much more fun.

♥

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“Reindeer” Food

1 / 5 / 131 / 13 / 13

Afternoon walks with Grandma Charlotte have become a routine around here… Each day, G returns with a lapful of hay for ‘Santa’s reindeer’ (a white-tailed doe and her fawn) and sets it out on the snow-covered lawn so we can watch them eat it up in the evenings.

Just one of the perks of being out in the country…

♥

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iPhoneography // Thanksgiving Saturday at Davison Orchards

10 / 6 / 1210 / 7 / 12

When I told Gracen that we would be headed to the Okanagan for the weekend, she immediately exclaimed that she was excited and started listing off all of the things she wanted to do while there, one of which was “Old MacDonald’s Farm”. Confused, I asked her what she meant. Her response? “Old MacDonald’s Farm – apple treat drink!” Such a funny little thing. With that, I knew she actually meant Davison Orchards, home of the appleanche (a pure apple slushy drink we let her try this summer).

So this morning, after a little sleep in for Brad and I and a little play for Grae, Manmaw, and Poppop, my girl and I headed into Vernon for a Davison visit. The orchard was extra beautiful today… sunshiny, packed with pumpkins, and sprinkled with autumn displays. Gracen loved every minute as always, and thought the pumpkin people were especially funny.

“thankful” // first stop: animals

goat feeding

donkey love

greedy sheep // corn barn

farmer grae // climb

corn maze // pumpkin family

sunshine // hoedown

♥

Photos edited with Instagram. Find me under jkossowan.

Southlands Country Fair

9 / 16 / 129 / 19 / 12

Today, my munchkin and I escaped to a little piece of rural paradise, right here in the city of Vancouver. We spent our day out at Southlands Riding Club (just off of SW Marine Drive), at their annual Country Fair and it certainly did not disappoint. The fair, which raises money to support the club, as well as their summer riding program for underprivileged children and two other local charities that run programs for disabled riders, was wonderful… The perfect way to spend a day with little ones, really. Besides horse entertainment and demonstrations all day long, there were pony rides, hay rides, a petting farm, a vendors’ market filled with local goods, musical entertainment, a huge farm yard fun area bursting with old-fashioned activities for little ones, and more. Grae and I arrived in time for opening, stayed well past her usual nap time, and could have stayed for at least two hours more.

Without a doubt, the highlight of the day was the pony rides (and not just for Grae – it seems most families felt the same way). Though I’d read about how busy the pony ride area was in years past, I thought Southlands had a great system this time around. Basically, you visited a booth to sign up for your pony ride time slots, then went about your day and reported to the ring only once it was your designated time. Because the line was only for time selections, it moved fairly quickly despite its length. Luckily, I thought ahead and signed up for two time slots {an hour apart}, guessing that Gracen would love her first horse riding experience and want to go again. And thank goodness I did. The first thing out of her mouth after getting off her pony was, “More pony riding?”

Here’s a look at our day in photos…

First pony ride.

Wee cowgirl on a wee pony.

Puppy dog face.

Goats need hugs too.

‘Hello piggy!’

Back to the riding ring.

On the ‘BIIIIG’ pony, as requested.

Doesn’t get much better.

Cowgirl Grae.

Tractor driving.

Bouncy horse!

A giant sensory pit… the hay pile.

Yay for hay.

Ahhh… Comfy.

Future firefighter?

What a day. I’m not sure who had more fun… But one thing is for sure, we’ll definitely be back next year.

♥

Zebras at Raw Hide Ridge Ranch

7 / 25 / 125 / 28 / 16

When I heard that there was a zebra farm right here in the teeny tiny town of Lumby (the town that is so small that it’s technically a village), I didn’t really believe it. Zebras, like the ones from Africa, right here in LUMBY? Sure enough, my good friend, Google, confirmed the story. Rawhide Ridge Ranch, located just 25 minutes outside of downtown Lumby (towards Mabel Lake), is not only home to four zebras. but it’s home to turkeys, cows, horses, sheep, chickens, coy, and bison too.

Curious to see what zebras living in Lumby looked like, and knowing Gracen’s love of animals, we picked a day and booked a ranch tour.

Today, we arrived to the ranch to meet James, one of the farm’s hosts, a big friendly rottie named Max, and this sweet little calf named Sophie.

Gracen wasted no time and wanted to go over and say hello to Sophie right away.

Our host, James, was wonderful. He was super friendly, truly excited to tell us all about the farm, and very mindful of the fact that we had a {soon-to-be} two year old with us. He even brought out a bottle of milk for Gracen to feed Sophie.

We spent the first part of our tour oohing over Sophie and this one week old foal, named Sky.

After a quick trip to the pond to admire the gorgeous water lilies and lily pads, it was off to the barn to meet a mystery animal named Tom.

Turned out that Tom was a giant, friendly turkey who roams freely around the ranch.

Such a funny looking guy – and with a personality to match.

We hung out in the barn for a while and visited with the other birds, and then it was time to be on our way.

Next stop – the fish! Strangely enough, this was one of Grae’s very favourite parts of tour (most likely because James gave her the job of feeding some of them).

It wasn’t easy, but when we finally convinced Grae to leave the fish, we headed down to the field to find Lucky, a very friendly ram who happily walks on a rope and visits with guests. We petted him, learned about what to do if he ever puts his head down and looks as though he might charge at you, and some of us (not me!) were even brave enough to try playing a butting game with him.

Then it was off to see the farm’s highlight… The zebras.

When we got up to their enclosure, they were all the way at the very back of it near the forest, so James went in, rounded them up, and got them to come towards us. The four of them, including 3 mares (2 of which are currently pregnant) and one stallion, came right up to the fence to let us admire them. They were beautiful and it was really cool to see zebras happily living in this sort of setting, rather than in a zoo. We learned all about zebra behaviours and even got to witness Apollo, the dominate stallion, keeping the herd close together by nipping the rump of one of his female counterparts.

After a visit to the bison herd, that was our tour. We stopped to see the fish again, visited the beautifully rustic guest house that can be rented out much like a bed and breakfast, said goodbye to Tom, and left with a dozen free-range eggs and Grandma Charlotte’s name on the list for an all-natural free-range Christmas turkey.

We had such a good time at Rawhide Ridge Ranch that I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to visit a real, working farm.

♥

UPDATE: Rawhide Ridge Guest Ranch has closed since our visit.

Rawhide Ridge Guest Ranch is located on Siglet Road in Lumby, BC. Contact them at rawhideridge@gmail.com to book a tour. Tours are $10 for adults, $5 for children, free for munchkins 4 and under and can be booked from April 1st to October 31st.

iPhoneography // Farm Life

6 / 25 / 126 / 27 / 12

One of Gracen’s very favourite farm activities… Cow watching.

♥

Taken with Instagram. Find me under jkossowan.

A Vernon Favourite: Davison Orchards

6 / 25 / 125 / 15 / 13

Those who really know me, know my love for Davison Orchards. I love everything about it – the grown on site produce, the fresh-pressed apple juice, the unique gifts found in the country market, the fact that it’s family run… I could go on and on. It’s just such a quaint, feel good place to visit. And the best thing is that it seems to be getting better and better with time.

Since our vacation has been a little wet these last couple of days, we decided we’d make the most out of our dry morning, and headed into Vernon to visit my favourite spot. Gracen loved it. We did spend some time at Davison’s last summer, but Gracen was only 10 or 11 months old then…still a baby. This time was different. She was big enough to run around the orchard, take full advantage of the play ground, and feed and pet the animals…grown enough to take it all in.

Our first stop was the playground. Gracen was beyond excited to ride the tractor, play on the tire horses, and zoom down the slide. In fact, she was having such a blast that it was hard to pull her away in order to go and check out the rest of the orchard.With the promise of seeing animals, our little animal lover followed us up the hill into the orchard. And she was very pleased she did. We saw rabbits, chickens, goats, sheep, and a donkey. Not only did she get to see the animals, but she also got to pet and feed some of them too. Her favourite part was retrieving the food from the dispenser, carefully placing it in the cup, and turning the wheel to send the treats up to the greedy goat waiting on the bridge above head. And although she was a little apprehensive, she even fed one of the goats by hand.
Next, we headed to the Kids Corral – a newer addition to the farm. It was awesome. Giant slides, a plasma car track, duck racing lanes, and a huge sandpit (complete with real tractors and an old truck) were just part of the fun. There was also a teepee to hide in, a corn maze to make your way through, a tree house perfect for enjoying the view, and a cow bell ringing station for those wanting to make some noise. The coolest part though? The biggest sensory bin I’ve ever seen (and you know I love me a good sensory bin). It was actually a shed filled with dried corn, shovels, and tractors… Amazing!
The best part is that we’re hoping to do another visit next weekend when my brother, sister-in-law, and all of Miss G’s cousins arrive. Can’t wait. It’s sure to be quadruple the fun {and quadruple the craziness!}

♥

Maplewood Farm Visit

6 / 15 / 126 / 16 / 12

I had planned to sub today, but late last night, we decided that I’d skip what would have been my final work day this school year, and we’d head over the bridge to North Van as a family instead. And I’m so glad we did. With me working the weekdays that Brad has off, our one day a week as a family often becomes a ‘to do day’ instead of a day to get out, do something fun, and enjoy one another’s company.

A trip to Maplewood Farm as a family was just what we needed. The sun shone all day, we all had a blast, and Gracen got to show her Papa all of her animal friends she met on our last visit. We brought along with us a picnic lunch, a bag of bird seed, and by recommendation of North Shore Mama, some fresh mint for the rabbits (best tip ever seeing as the rabbits are so well fed that they turn away carrots and lettuce left and right, but gobbled up our mint leaves!)

Ooh! And did I mention that our visit cost a whopping $5?! When I got an email from Groupon advertising 2 adult admissions and 2 child admissions all for $10, I jumped on the deal. Little did I know, Groupon was having a deal of their own – $5 off any Groupon. Whew! Doesn’t get much better than that, now does it? Especially since admission for the 3 of us would normally cost about $20. (Have I mentioned that becoming part of the Ogasawara family has made me a sucker for a good deal?!)

Here’s our visit in photos…
The ‘moos’.

Pot-bellied piggies.

‘Hello, turkey!’

Gracen’s favourite – the horses.

Duck feeding.

‘Come, ducks. Come!’

Papa and his little lady.

Family favourite – goat visiting!

Goat watching.

Hands washed and ready for lunch.

Picnic lunch!

Duck feeding never gets old.

Fresh mint for the bunnies.

Cow milking.

Kisses.

Farmer Grae.

Last stop – the playground.

Do you think she enjoyed our day?

♥

Goat Petting

3 / 23 / 123 / 27 / 12

My little animal lover in action…

Maplewood Farm Visit

3 / 23 / 123 / 23 / 12

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.