We went to Hidden Villa in Los Altos Hills today for a Farm Tour

Sarah, Alex & Sarah’s mama, Gwyneth joined us.  Gwyneth is visiting from Wales.

The first part of the tour was the garden which didn’t hold a lot of interest for Max!  He just wanted to see the ANIMALS!  He’s not much into trying out the fruits and vegetables.

Emily enjoyed petting the sheep

She even said to me, “Take my picture, mama!”

Max really enjoyed the sheep too

He obviously got very comfortable with this particular sheep.  Max was tickling the sheep’s hind legs.  I told him that he could get kicked.  The tour guide explained that he was in the right spot to get peed on and that would be much worse than getting kicked so he went towards the front of the sheep and just leaned on her. 

Emily gets a little kiss from this sweet sheep

Couldn’t seem to capture Alex petting a sheep, but she sure did look pretty in her hot pink ruffled shirt, matching hat & necklace

I did however capture her taking lots of pictures of the chickens.  She enjoyed using Sarah’s camera!

Cock-A-Doodle-Do!  One gorgeous rooster!

SOME PIG

All and all, it was a great time for the kids & adults too.  Hidden Villa is, in my opinion, a hidden gem!

Max’s Polar Bear

Miss Deborah & Max

Little Red Hens And Oh so sweet Mama birdies!

Max’s Little Red Hen

Max’s Chicken

Top Left is the picture Max drew in September 2009.  Bottom Right is the picture he drew in March 2010.  They now have legs and a face! 

Max’s Alien

Max’s Name with glitter on it, his elephant and a Pinch Pot he made

Max in a Hot Air Balloon

Max’s Piggy

He’s very proud of it!

Max & Will both show off their piggies

Max’s pig on the LEFT and Will’s pig on the RIGHT

Will, Max, Emily & Luke holding hands in the Polar Bear Room

Will is Max’s good friend.  Luke is Will’s brother.

Today was a special day.  My mom (a.k.a. Nana) attended Max’s First Art Show @ Little Oak Preschool with us in April 2008.  She was energetic, vibrant & happy!  I will never forget that day!  This is the second art show without her in this world.  It’s a special day as I remember her beaming as she looked at her youngest grandson’s art displayed.  I only wish she would’ve been here with me today.  My dear dear Mama … you are always on my mind & in my heart.  Life hasn’t been the same without you.

Hidden Villa is an organic farm in Los Altos Hills

2 week old lamb

Another 2 week old lamb

Max & Emily petting “Emma” the sheep! She loved the attention!

Emily & Emma

Emily petting a friend of Emma’s

Emily all the sudden noticed that the sheep was dirty! She is pointing to it saying, “Mommy, it’s dirty!!”

Emily feeding the chickens

It was a great afternoon! The kids had a wonderful time. Max kept saying, “I want to come back to the barnyard”.

“Hidden Villa” is an organic farm located in Los Altos Hills. It’s a non-profit educational organization. Heifer International Learning Center is also present at Hidden Villa and provides educational programs that promote sustainable solutions to global hunger, poverty and environmental degradation. Please check out www.hiddenvilla.org for more information.

Maggie, our tour guide, shows Max and the other kids how to careful touch an egg softly with just one finger

Max was very excited to touch the eggSweet Lamb (only 2 weeks old)Another adorable lamb! This one really stole my heart!Max gently touched the lambThe mama was baa’ing away wanting the lamb to return to herMax & Emily give Emma some loving! This lamb was pretty funny! She loved to be scratched, petted, touched!! She would push her way into the kids, adults, whoever just for a scratch. What a lovely sheep!This is ClydeI don’t know this piggy’s name, but he was stinkin’ cute!!! LOVED HIM! Kids weren’t allowed to pet the baby piglets ’cause they have sharp teeth and could accidently biteMax & Brennan feeding the chickens cornMax enjoyed this!BIG PIG! The kids were allowed to touch the pig’s snout!Cute pig drinking water … didn’t know that they are the only farm animal that doesn’t drink water out of a trough.Max & Brennan’s baby brother, Liam, have developed a mutually fond relationshipBaby Liam loves Max! Max asks about a “Baby Brother” every time we see Liam.It was a wonderful afternoon at Hidden Villa. I would highly recommend to the locals.

Emily snuggles up to boyfriend, Sean

The Pink Pig in action on Halloween night

Emily & “Brown Puppy”

Emily hangs out by the mailbox in front of her new house

Here is her “Daddy Piggy” outfit! I am thinking that the black tie makes it a Daddy Piggy instead of a Mommy Piggy! Just go with me on this one!

She was really enjoying wearing it

She pranced around the kitchen

and even chased her tail a bit …

Note: Max has been all over the board as far as his Halloween costume. He wanted to be a Big Bad Wolf at first then Lightning McQueen then Thomas the Train then a Fire Fighter then Buzz Light Year (I don’t even know how he knew Buzz Lightyear existed). Now, he has the idea (THANKS Wallace!) about being a CROCODILE! I looked at a couple stores today, but no luck in finding a crocodile costume!! I guess I will check for it on-line, but by the time I find it; I am sure he’ll be on to some other Halloween costume! We’ve still got 7 weeks to go! He could chose 7 more costumes by then …