Mother's Day and Gifford Farm

Is it spring at last now, or is it already summer? It's hard to believe there was snow on the ground two weeks ago as the temperatures are approaching triple-digits. We do now have plenty of blossoms filling the air with fragrance, including the brief appearance of lilacs in our yard.

Sunday was Mother's Day, so that meant spending lots of time with family. At church, the men hosted a Mother's Day breakfast for everyone in the church basement. Then that afternoon, Vivian and I brought Hannah to grandma and grandpa's for the rest of the day. Grandma had set up the yard with a small fence and a whole bunch of toys for Hannah to play with and explore. Jack manned the grill, cooking a bunch of burgers and brats for everyone (I brought the potato salad). Both moms then opened their gifts after we had sufficiently stuffed themselves. (Being a helpless romantic and a traditionalist, I gave Vivian some flours.)

On Saturday, Gifford Farm here in Bellevue held a kind of open house / family fun day for visitors to come and see how they've recovered since the flood two years ago. Many of the buildings on the farm were a complete loss, and the animals had been moved to 132nd and Harrison for some time as everything was cleaned up and rebuilt. It was quite the experience for Hannah, who had only seen these farm animals in her books. She seemed quite shocked and terrified once she discovered that those little chickens were about as tall as she was, and a "hose" was the relative size of Godzilla. She did warm up quickly, though, petting a couple of the resident animals who let us get close enough to reach them. Hannah particularly enjoyed playing on a xylophone in an outdoor play area, and we naturally had to get a photo of her crossing Grandma's Bridge. We wrapped up with a piece of Pig Bread for lunch, which Hannah especially seemed to enjoy, and we even bumped into the elusive Kam family on the way out.