Farm Park Field Trip: Another Reason I Love My Local Parks Department

For someone that has never watched an episode of Parks and Recreation, I have been referred to as Leslie Knope several times in the past few years. From what I gather in the context, and my admiration of Amy Poehler, I took it for a compliment. I worked as a camp counselor for two years in various roles at locations all over town before becoming a teacher. Most days it absolutely rocked. Other days I rolled my eyes and gritted my teeth so many times I was lucky if I created coherent sentences by the time I got home. I experienced so much about how to interact with kids of all different ages, how to (and sometimes how not to) keep my cool in ultra-stressful/risky situations, and I am thankful for all of the things I learned before entering the classroom. One thing I also learned was that our local parkboard is pretty snazzy and well-supported. One of their most recent additions is called the Rutledge-Wilson Community Farm Park, and today I took my niece there to play and visit with the animals. In our new home it is less than a five minute drive and it has a trailhead for avid joggers and bikers, a playground, fishing pond, and other various activities for people of all ages. Here are some of the photos of our trip today.

We started at the playground and even saw a frog. Unfortunately, one young boy did not listen when we all said not to touch it, ended up picking it up and getting peed on by the scared little amphibian.

Then we visited the animals. On cooler days, the goats, miniature donkeys, and sheep also have pens outside the barn with areas to climb and roam, but I think they brought them in to keep them out of the sun and heat today. Earlier this year I visited while they were keeping newborn piglets and their mother in the barnhouse. They are expecting a baby cow within a month I was told when I spoke with a few team members at the gift shop.

Before leaving, we went to the gift shop where they sell local honey along with toys and different rocks. My niece also got to sit on a tractor and was going to ride the "tiny tractors" but discovered a pedal was broken. We visited the fishing pond and fed the ducks, also. You can also rent firepits for parties, and they also have a bouncehouse as well. Each season there are different community activities, such as a glow-in-dark Easter egg hunt, a Halloween "haunted" maze, and christmas lights set up to drive through. Usually they have a cow train for rides available as well. During the summer they hold educational camps to teach kiddos about animal husbandry, gardening, and agriculture in general. I think it is really great that our community has a place that celebrates the agricultural background of the area right within reach of the city.

I hope you all enjoyed this little field trip and look forward to hearing what you think of our farm park.

Stay awesome,

@tltran