Hunting with Toddlers

Yes, I know, the title probably makes you want to call child protective services immediately! I would for sure! Not to worry, the hunting that happened at our house was the egg variety! I am so excited to share our egg hunting story!

I need to start you all out with a little background story. When I became a mom, I scoured the internet for baby information. You would be amazed what all you find when you search for baby stuff! Anyway, I stumbled upon a message board dedicated to local moms. Most of them had children Preslee's age and were from all over Indiana. This looked like a perfect place to get to know some other moms and learn all the baby things I was completely clueless about! It took several months before I got the nerve to actually participate in the conversations. But, then one day I just decided...I have questions too and I want to just jump right into the discussion! Over the last several months, I have gotten to learn about other local families and have enjoyed hearing stories about other toddlers and sharing some of our favorite stories too! The group has get together events regularly, and while I hadn't gone to one, it sounded like a lot of fun. So, when they started looking for a place to host an easter egg hunt....I just blurted out "I'll do it!" Now picture this...I went home and told Andy, "we need to clean the barn, mow, pull weeds, get the house cleaned, groom Ziggy and get one of the cows up for a hair cut because I just invited a bunch of families who I have never met to come over and search for plastic easter eggs in our yard! Oh and by the way, they are coming in 5 days!" God love him...Andy's response was, "well...OK!"

As you know, we live on a small farm. While I do spend a lot of time whining about cleaning stalls, mowing grass and all the other fun "farmy" things that we have to do constantly, I do recognize that it is a special thing that we get to share our lives with animals that most people rarely see, other than passing by on the highway. Living on this farm, Andy and I feel like it is a great responsibility we have to share our story, our home and our animals with people who don't get the opportunity to experience "farm life" on a daily basis. So this easter egg hunt was a perfect fit for us!

I was so excited to meet the people who I had been sharing experiences with that I could hardly stand it! I couldn't wait to see the kids hunting for their eggs and playing together! However, I recognized that this wasn't just about plastic easter eggs. We had this great opportunity to share not only our home with these great families, but also our animals and the story of Indiana Agriculture! We put together goody bags full of treats for the kids and parents alike. Everything from recipes, coloring books and even meat thermometers! Because come on....who doesn't think of meat thermometers when they think of Easter (that was me trying to be sarcastic...haha)! My hope was that not only would the kids and parents get an opportunity to share some fun and fellowship, but also get to learn a little something about agriculture and take home some fun treats and helpful information about their food.

The day was great! The weather was perfect, the kids had a blast and Andy and I were truly honored to be able to share our home with some really great families! And...I think Ziggy really appreciated getting brushed! I can't wait to have all of these new friends out to visit again! For those of you that got to come, thanks so much for making it a great day for our family and thank you for letting us share our lives with you!

Here are some pictures of what I think was a GREAT hunt!