#2 Field Trip of the Week

What a treat. Mom and I met Barbara's day care kids at Elkus Ranch, which is a working ranch owned by UC Davis here on the coast, just south of town and down a long back road. Only groups of people are allowed onto the property and there is a reservation process. Barbara arranged everything before summer even began. It was so worth it.

It was a lovely setting surrounded by hills featuring gardens of vegetables, fruit and flowers and animals. The day began with the favorite activity of carefully catching chickens then sitting with them. The chickens decide when they have had enough by flapping their wings and the children were shown how to gently place them back on the ground. All but two of the children had been with us at the ranch last summer so mom and I had fun watching them throughout the day. The awe in the face of the youngest child while holding his first chicken was indescribable. It was just magic.

The docent never rushed anything and moved the group along at its pace, not hers. She was outstanding. Next, there was a summer camp of children coming up with ideas and trying to make their idea happen. The goal yesterday was to become a sort of transformer. As we went into a barn, they gave us a demonstration of the process of building wooden pieces with rollers on them strapped onto a body so they could just fall onto the rollers and take off! They were working on a braking system. A teacher and I spoke about the goal of the process rather than producing a perfectly finished product. The kids were learning to keep refining their ideas. It felt so good to be around kids again!

Llama named Ginger

We then went to another fenced area to meet the baby goats with their mommas all overseen by a huge llama. She was a spitter! We all stayed away from her! One baby goat fell in love with mom and tried to eat her shirt! The younger children were actually hugging the goats. We left the goats to meet the one ram who was not too attractive but he did his job. He made all the babies. The children then entered the bunny hatch and the smallest child was talking to the bunnies like he would a human baby. It was so very sweet.

They then entered the huge arena where there were donkeys and sheep and goats who all needed brushing. That area had a back door that opened to the large open area so the animals could come and go as they pleased.

Then we moved to the big barn where the large sheep were waiting for us. The kids were able to hand feed them. They loved being so close to them. The docent explained the process of sheep sheering, showed the kids a pre-washed whole sheep skin before demonstrating how to card freshly washed wool. They then took that carded wool, twirled it to make yarn to make bracelets for themselves all serenaded by the bleating sheep.

Washing up before lunch

With all new wool bracelets, we ate lunch together on the picnic tables which ended with homemade cupcakes! A set of grandparents had joined us on the tour and it was Grandma's birthday. Grandpa dad baked cupcakes for everyone and we all sang a hearty "Happy Birthday" to her. The kids also signed a birthday card to my mom for her birthday on Saturday. She was so touched.

After another visit with the chickens, we said our goodbyes. The time had just flown by. Mom and I headed home while the group stopped at one of the beaches on their way back across the bay. It was such a lovely day.

Thank you, Barbara!