Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Got Milk?
First of all...just in case you are wondering...I am trying to stay current on the blog plus go backwards and get all caught up at the same time. So...if you see some old and some new over the next few weeks that is why (or at least that is my plan...we will see if I can actually put the plan in action!!)
Last Friday our next door neighbor, Amy, invited us to go to Shatto Dairy Farm up north of Kansas City. If you haven't seen or heard about Shatto Milk yet I suggest you go to the nearest Whole Foods, Hye-Vee or Price Chopper and get some right away. I first heard about Shatto Milk a few years ago at a bridal shower. Several of the girls were just raving about it. I don't like milk, and I never drink milk, but I was curious!! How could milk be so good? A few months later I saw the iconic Shatto Milk GLASS bottles in our neighborhood Price Chopper and just had to give it a try. We got chocolate and let me tell you...it was like having dessert in a cup! They also have flavors like banana, root beer, orange cream and strawberry, along with regular 2% and skim milk as well! So, when Amy asked if we wanted to go tour the Shatto Dairy Farm I just knew we had to go!! We invited our mom's along to share in the fun! It was a fun and fabulous day, and something I would highly recommend to anyone interested!
Gam and Hadley in the country store before our tour! (FYI...the farm is further away than the map on their website really depicts, so if you plan to visit make sure you leave plenty of time to get there before your tour!)
Hadley and Cooper before the tour. They gave us these cute Shatto Milk Company hats to wear, plus we got to taste all of the milk flavors before our tour started!
Could Corinne look any cuter in her hat!! Seville wouldn't wear hers!
I like this cute little face too!
We got there late and thankfully another group did too. It really was a blessing in disguise because we ended up having a really small tour group and Leroy Shatto got to be our tour guide!! So neat!
This is where the magic happens!
They showed us exactly how they bottle the milk!
Here is Leroy showing us how the caps go on!
Then they take the bottles off the line and put them straight into the crates for delivery to the stores. Fresh as fresh can be!
Hadley and Coop in front of the bottling machine!
How neat to get a picture with the owner! He was such a nice guy, and you could totally tell how much he loves his job and sharing it with others...especially children!!
The Grandmas and the babies!
This is the machine they load the empty bottles into before they go on the line.
After we got home that night Scott asked me how big the place was. I think we were all surprised to learn that it isn't very large (but they are planning to expand!) This is the room where most everything happens except milking the cows.
This is where they milk the cows. They get milked twice a day. The lady in this picture gets there every morning at 3:00 a.m. WOW!!!
Here she is "hooking up" a cow!
Christie, Amy and Corrine watching!
The kids got to put their thumbs in the "milker" to see what it felt like!
Here is Pat...the "Root Beer Cow" as Leroy called him!!
They had a barn will all the baby calves. Probably ten or more calves have been born this month!
I love this look on Gam's face when she was milking the cow!
She actually got the milk to come out!
Cooper did too!
Hadley didn't feel like trying this part of the tour! :)
One of the newest babies!
OREO!!
Looking into the calf barn!
Seville just had to climb up the gate! No surprise there!
Our gang in front of the Shatto Milk Company truck! The horn moos instead of honking!
After our tour we had a picnic!
Gam and Seville relaxing in the swing outside the Country Store!
So cute!
We completed our tour with the purchase of root beer, banana and strawberry milk as well as cheddar cheese and dill cheese curds...none of which are lasting long around our house!! It was a great day, and I can't wait to go back in a few more years when the girls will get even more out of it!! It is so nice to see a local farmer have such a successful business that people are really interested in supporting and learning more about!
Have a great week!
XOXOX
Monday, July 20, 2009
School Friends and Sprinkler Fun!
On Friday, July 10th, we had one of the other families from Hadley's preschool over for dinner and a playdate! We have been meaning to have Heather, Ryan, Corrie and Addison over for the longest time, and it finally worked out for both of our schedules!! Not only are Heather and Ryan super nice people that we would love to hang out with regardless...they also have two sweet little girls that our girls (and us) just adore!! Hadley, Corrie and Addison currently go to preschool together at Ms. B's, but Hadley and Corrie will be starting kindergarten in August (sniff, sniff!) Starting in September, Seville will take Hadley's spot at preschool and then her and Addison will spend several years together at Ms. B's. Corrie and Hadley have been great friends ever since Hadley started at Ms. B's over a year and a half ago, and there is no doubt in my mind that Addison and Seville are going to be great buddies too!
Here are the girls eating their pizza dinner from Double Dino's! Clockwise from the left: Seville, Addison, Hadley and Corrie!
We had planned to go swimming, but a medical issue (facial stitches on Hadley that I still haven't blogged about) prevented us from going to the pool. Luckily, the Dr. agreed to let Hadley run through the sprinkler! The girls seemed to have just as much fun doing that, but it just seems strange to live so close to the pool and use the sprinkler instead!
Seville gets the biggest kick out of running through the sprinkler!
All four cuties!
Corrie and Addison brought Ring Pops for everyone, and the girls loved getting them wet in the sprinkler (we have no clue why!)
Action shot!
Little buddies in the making! Addison is going to be such a huge help to Seville when she starts at Ms. B's...helping her learn all of the school rules and get the hang of things!
Corrie showing off her BLUE tongue!
It cracks us up when Seville tries to sit on the sprinkler!
Trying to get a drink!
Addison and her big, beautiful, brown eyes!
For some reason this shot just screams SUMMERTIME to me! It is just one of those great summer memories that you always look back on and treasure. I feel like I have a similar picture from when I was a kid!
Seville trying to be like the big girls and show off her RED tongue!
Heather, Ryan, Corrie and Addison...we had such a great time having you all over and can't wait to do it again!! I have a feeling our four girls have many more happy memories in store for us!!!
SURPRISE!!
On Saturday, July 11th, Uncle Craig came over to SURPRISE Hadley with a belated birthday outing! He picked her up at our house and took her to see "UP" in 3-D at one of the Downtown theaters, and then afterwards they went out for ice cream!! Hadley was so surprised and so excited! I grabbed the camera at the last minute, so please forgive the quality, but I didn't want to miss the moment!
This is when she first spotted him through the front door!
So excited!
So surprised!
Uncle Craig telling her the "plan" for their afternoon date!
What a lucky little girl to have such a special Uncle!
Craig, thanks for making Hadley's 5th birthday extra special! You are so special and important to her and she will remember your special "date" for the rest of her life! We love you! XOXO
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