My So Called Life: Goats, Chickens, Ponies, Oh My...

Goats, chickens, ponies, Oh My.... And puppies too!

It was quite the Animal Planet weekend for the Hamiltons. It all started Saturday with a trip to Gilroy Gardens. Their seasonal attraction this month was Country Fair featuring country music, BBQ lunch buffet and of course, a petting zoo with pony rides. Oh we must let Mekayla ride a pony. She would love to do that. She'd been on the carousel horse at Gilroy Gardens before and it was ever so cute when she started saying "Yee haw" before the ride started.

So we get there, and we fish out $5 for the petting zoo and $10 for the pony ride. Yes, $10 for a 5 minute pony ride plus photo op with your own camera. They say that the money goes to caring for the animals and they did look healthy (the goats most of all) so, okay. The petting zoo had tons of goats, chickens, ducks, a pig, a goose and some bunnies. She had a blast but man those goats really do eat anything... Goat food, duck food, chicken food, they really don't care. A few of them were a little too interested in checking out to see if Nadia was edible (she was in my Moby wrap) and I saw one of them trying to nibble on some kid's sweater. Fortunately, we escaped unscathed.

Then on Sunday, as we were getting ready for yet another Ikea trip (for on-going home organizational stuff), Carter walks in with a little Chihuahua puppy in his arms. Now for those of you who know us well, you know we are not fans of those little ratty, yappy things. But I must say, most puppy anything is cute and this little guy was no exception. Norbert is freaking out, Mekayla is all excited "Wooo puppy!" and I'm going "Where did you get this guy from?" (slightly concerned). Turns out a mommy Chihuahua was walking around the neighborhood with her troop of 3 puppies and this one just scampered into our garage to say Hi! So, Carter picked him up and brought him in to see Mekayla (mommy Chihuahua was quite worried). They looked hungry so we led them to a corner of our front yard, gave them some kibble and let Mekayla make friends while we got ready to leave. It was quite the highlight of her day. I must add to the mommy Chihuahua's credit, she is the nicest, most mellow one of that breed I had ever met (and that is rare). Most of them are nasty little noisy ankle chompers. But she was sweet and nothing fazed her including Carter carrying off her puppy and Mekayla playing and messing around with them.

Well, without further ado, here are some pictures: