Annie had a little cow...

I came across this picture the other day and it brought back so many memories of growing up on our farm.

The calf was a little orphan that I bottle raised and kept in the house with me for a while after his mother died. I named him Juan Diego since our property is called "The Guadalupe Farm". He was the cutest thing when he would come into the kitchen to be fed with a bottle the size of my arm. He would slip around on the tiles like Bambi did in the cartoon when he tried to walk on ice.

Even when Juan Diego grew up he was as gentle and playful as a bottle-raised lamb. Sadly, he was half Texas long horn and his horns combined with his playful nature required us to sell him, but I will always remember how special it was raising him.

I want my kids to grow up discovering the wonders of nature here at camp, but also the experiences that I grew up with on our farm raising chickens, goats, rabbits, cows and horses.

One day I was reading Lil Man a book about a farm. He scanned over the picture of the barnyard filled with animals, pointed to the baby chicks and exclaimed with a big smile, "CHICKEN NUGGETS!!!" Ummm, yeah...what can I say???? 

I also found this picture of my youngest brother when one of our pet cats had her kittens:

 

My siblings picking vegetables from our summer garden:

The tree house and zipline that my brothers built in our woods- complete with an elevator and dumb waiter!

 

What an amazing and blessed childhood we had!

Thanks for taking a moment to meander down the country road of memories with me. :-) God bless!