My brother called me yesterday and asked if I wanted to meet him, his 3 1/2-year old daughter Anna, and my aunt for lunch today. He chose "White Fence Farm" because of the animals (or as Anna says it, "animunks"). My son bowed out due to school work; my daughter Kelly declined because Homecoming was this weekend, yet teachers still assigned loads of homework. Emily was up for lunch...as long as I let her drive. Even though 470 was down to one lane (I had no idea construction went on over the weekend!), and I used my imaginary brake several times, we got to our destination just fine.
There are two White Fence Farm restaurants in the country, the other one being in Chicago. Robb and I have a vague recollection of going there for one of our dads' birthdays (this was way before any marriages or grand-kids). The setting was beautiful -- typical farm buildings, lots of trees, little walking paths, gazebo, etc. The weather was sunny, crisp, very fall-like. As we went inside, I whispered to my brother, "Emily and Anna are seriously bringing down the average age in here," because really? It was full of very, very elderly folk! And my aunt? Knew several of them!
The dinner was served family-style, and the fried chicken was excellent, but who eats beets? And kidney-bean salad with dill pickles? And cottage cheese? I thought things like biscuits and corn-on-the-cob were supposed to be served with fried chicken. Although, they had these little powdered-sugar corn fritters that were very tasty. Our take-out box wasn't a box, it was a plastic bag that Emily dumped the extra chicken and corn fritters in.
We walked outside to the petting barn. Yes, Anna loved the animals, but I think Emily was as excited as I had ever seen her. She bonded with a cute little goat who's back she scratched. The goat totally arched its' back "cat-like," and kept nudging Em for more scratches. There was a huge pig in the barn that we named Wilbur, because why wouldn't we? Now, Anna is a calm, wonderful child. I've never seen her disagreeable...ever. But when Robb said, "C'mon Anna, let's go home and see if mommy is home from her trip," Anna said, "no." And kept saying it louder and louder. Of course, Emily and I did the wrong thing and giggled, which kept her going, I think. So, Robb being the very good daddy, picked her up. She did the "back-arch" and wanted to be let down. For those of you not familiar with the "back-arch," it's a very clever thing little kids do that makes it nearly impossible to hold them.
As Anna was just about to "ramp it up," I noticed a John Deere tractor. I asked Anna if she wanted to ride the tractor, and Emily jumps up on the tractor and pulls up her young cousin. It made for a very cute photo. By that time some other little girls were wanting to get on the John Deere, so Anna willingly got off. We said our good-byes and got into the car. I immediately told Em she was going to have to toss her bag of fried chicken because the scent was overwhelming. Well, Em refused to give up her bag of left-overs, so she hung the bag outside the window and rolled the window up. The looks we got on the highway were of curiosity to frowning (probably thinking something super gross was in the bag...).
So, this Sunday was fun spent with family, farm animals, the Broncos game (they won). And only 3 weeks until fall break...
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