A Trip to Grant's Farm

One of the activities we did when we were visiting my mom for a week was to take a trip to Grant's Farm.  This is a free activity, aside from parking, and it was a lot of fun.  Grant's farm is named for Ulysses S. Grant and he lived in a house on the farm for a time.  My mom and I really wanted to take a tour of Grant's house, but we knew that the kids wouldn't enjoy it very much and wouldn't be able to keep from touching things so we just peeked in some of the windows and one of the guides let us look in the out buildings.  Seeing these houses was probably my favorite part of the day.

Grant's family lived in this house for a time. 

This was the main house where Ulysses Grant and his family lived.  This was actually his
wife's childhood home, but they lived in it quite a few years.

These are two of the out-buildings.  The one on the right was a chicken house
and the one on the left was the ice house.

The summer kitchen and building where the slaves spent
any time they might have been allowed.

In front of a wagon that is pulled by the Clydesdale horses.  

These cannons were very exciting for Kimball despite his less than excited expression.

On the tram going to Gran't farm.  The tram takes you on a ride through the "Deer Park" where
various species of deer and cattle live.  I was surprised how close some of them got to the tram.

I think the goats are the most memorable part of the farm.  You can pay to feed the goats milk out of bottles so they aren't scared of you in the least. 

Watch that goat!

I'm so glad I got this picture...here the white goat is starting to nibble on Rebecah's skirt.
 By the time I realized this and got to Rebecah the black goat on Rebecah's right
also had hold of her skirt and I had to pull her skirt out of their mouths.
It was pretty funny.  Goats will eat just about anything.  

Large Turtle

Pretty parrots

Kimball and Rebecah with a butterfly statue made with pennies.

Zebras and Llamas

Having a fun time!

Kimball and the camels

I love this picture...Kimball and Rebecah with Naga.  They had so much fun with her.

There was a mister for kids to cool off.  My kids were hesitant of it so I went through with them.
I don't enjoy being wet, but to be fair to the water, it did help cool me off a little.  After
the initial walk through with me we had a hard time getting Kimball to leave this area.

Taking a break watching an animal...monkey maybe?

There was a barn area that housed some old fashion cars and wagons.

This was a very neat and detailed wagon with intricate carvings.

We had a great time.  We just wish Heather and Chandra could have come with us, but Heather was recovering from being sick and she didn't want to over do it.