The Cotten Farm

We had a great visit at the Cotten farm today. The weather was about 75 degrees and sunny. And the scenery, sheesh--the desert floor was a carpet of green, and lush vegetation was everywhere! You see, we've had a TON of rain lately (half of our annual rainfall average, and it's just March). It's crazy. I give it two weeks, and the green things will die and we'll have our brown and yellow desert back.

Today was a first: I brought a powerchair with us on our visit today. There's just so much to see and so many animals to touch (yuck) that I wanted at least one of the twins to be self-mobile. I chose Kyle's chair, and he navigated the rocky farm terrain just fine.

I had to keep screaming to the other kids, "watch your toes!", but my friend Melanie was awesome because she kept reassuring me, "Relax, they'll learn." Heh heh. I think Melanie gives her kids stitches on the kitchen counter when they get a bad cut. And she also electrocuted herself in my kitchen, while she was pregnant, when she helped me put up a wallpaper border. So while I'm not sure that I should relax about Kyle running over his friends' toes, I think Melanie is raising kids tough enough to handle it.

When Jenna learned that we were going to the farm today, she became obsessed with chickens. The Cottens have 3 cows, 5 horses, and 11 chickens. Not sure why she had chickens on the brain today, but I'd like to quote her word for word here now:

"Lauren, I'm going to catch you a chicken today. They are fast. They have short legs, but they run like the wind!"

and

"Mom, if I catch a chicken today, I want to bake it."

So, without further ado, here is a 1-minute video of Jenna NOT catching any chickens. (if you're reading this in Facebook, you'll have to click on "View Original Post" to see the video)


And I'm sharing the next video because I'm proud of Kyle. The footage itself isn't of particular interest. But he was just doing his own thing today, in his powerchair, and was pretty cool with going wherever he wanted to go. He didn't even ask for help while driving--something he does do pretty often during our driver's ed sessions here at home. The farm was a great stimulation for him--for all the kids, obviously--and I loved that he could "chase" a chicken if he wanted to and just because he wanted to. I know that being immobile for two and a half years can really take it's toll on a kid. Chase that chicken, Kyle!