Our Journey to Malia

GRANT'S FARM
Sunday

Our last big hoorah was a trip to Grant's Farm, which is named after Ulysses S. Grant who once owned and farmed part of the 281 acres. It is now owned by the Busch family and is home to several spectacular Clydesdales.

Our trip began with a tram ride, on which Malia had a tantrum because we wouldn't allow her to sit in the area immediately in front of us which was clearly stated to be for personal belongings only. I have a picture as proof, but to spare her embarrassment in the years ahead I'll be keeping that photo for the scrapbook only. In her defense it was a very HOT day and we forgot to bring water (although we weren't supposed to enter the farm with any food or drink items anyway) and I do believe she was very thirsty. Once we departed the tram and made our way to the goats, she calmed down. Her she is giving a goat a good pet on the head. Shortly after this photo we headed straight for a concession stand for water!

Here we are in front of some beautiful birds, although they can barely be seen.

This pond was home to several different types of bird species, including white and black swans, flamingos, cranes and ducks.

In my opinion, Grant's farm can be compared to a zoo. They have many big and small animals alike, which included camels. And since there were these little machines in their proximity that contained pebbles of food, we just had to share some with them.

After seeing giant tortoises, elephants, donkeys, and several other animals, it was time for the horses! We entered a stable area which was home to several different horses. This tiny little black horse caught Malia's attention and she ran straight to him and shimmied her way to the front of the small crowd of children who were admiring him. At one point I heard her infamous "nooo!" but did not see who it was directed at. Needless to say, the small crowd dispersed leaving Malia alone to pet the horse ... which nipped her arm.

Afterwards, we headed back to the tram station to make our trek back to the entrance. We left the farm area and headed straight for the stables to see the Clydesdales. What beautiful, magnificent ... and BIG ... creatures!

The very last thing we did was get a family picture taken with a Clydesdale named Scott. Since our scanner isn't hooked up, I don't have the picture to share here. But, if you ever come over to my house, I'd be happy to show you our scrapbook that will include it!

I would also like to include in this post that in the parking lot on our way to see the Clydesdales, we saw a Hawaii license plate. Why is this of any importance? Because we are avid players of the license plate game and this is the first time we've ever been on a trip and seen this particular state license plate ... with the exception of our trip to Hawaii a few years ago. On this trip we found 40 different states, including Hawaii and Alaska! So far our record is 48 states in one trip (to Pennsylvania).

THANK YOU!!
We would like to send a quick thank-you shout-out to Dana and Terri for planning and organizing our weekend! You each did a great job and we got to enjoy a very special weekend with dear friends. We are so looking forward to our next reunion!