Fair Fun, Backyard Waterpark
Amy here this week. It was our turn for cousin camp in the valley. My three nephews came to the farm on Saturday and left yesterday afternoon. Altogether our kids are ages 11, almost 10, 9, 8, 6, 5, 4, and 5 months. With eight kids this week we’ve had lots of noise, lots of laughs, and a couple fights.
What I enjoyed most was watching them play. Every night they raced each other around the house, played kickball and tag, and just never stopped until we finally made them go to bed (usually filthy dirty).
They were here Saturday afternoon after the Abingdon Farmers Market to help get 50 head of cattle moved down the road and into the barn to sort out some of the biggest ones to go to the processor.
Sunday we took them all to the Rich Valley Fair where they competed in kids racing events. They all came home with a stack of ribbons. I also competed in the women’s skillet toss and got 2nd place. I told Will he better not make me mad, now that he knows I can really use that cast iron skillet. We might’ve stayed too long and had a little too much fair fun. By the time we got home and got pigs sorted and loaded on the trailer it was after 10:00.
Monday morning Will took a load of cows and pigs to the processor. When he got back, we filled orders and coolers for a meat delivery to Chilhowie and Abingdon that afternoon. Leon made the delivery with me while the rest of the kids enjoyed playing at the river. Will was close by moving hay bales off the field.
Tuesday morning brought about a gully washer. It rained so hard that streams were flowing from places where they never have before. Last month at cousin camp part 1, the kids got to go to a waterpark. With the flash flood on the farm, the kids took full advantage of the overflow of running water and made a waterpark of their own. Grabbing an old tractor tube, they took turns sliding down the new stream one after another. I’m sure they all would’ve picked Soaky Mountain over the redneck backyard Rich Valley waterpark, but they all had a good time.
However, they didn’t enjoy Wednesday afternoon’s chore of shoveling rocks back into the driveway. One of the cabin driveways was completely washed away. Will spent most of Wednesday afternoon trying to put it back together.
Wednesday morning we set up 9 empty chicken shelters then headed to the brooder to catch about 560 chicks to take out to the field to fresh grass. Will had a bit of a break, only moving 7 shelters daily for about a week. Now he’s back up to 16 shelters daily.
On Thursday afternoon Will finally got the rest of the hay hauled off the fields while I took the kids to see Toy Story 5 before returning the cousins back to Tennessee. We are not really movie watchers or Toy Story followers. Who knew there were five of them? But I thought it would be something fun for them to do with cousins to break up the trip.
It turned out to be a great movie. The over arching theme was the death of playing and imagination brought about by screens and devices. It shows kids who don’t know how to make friends because all their peers are staring at screens. They don’t know how to use their imagination and create stories because they play “games” on tablets instead. It highlights the reality of parents not knowing what their child is seeing on their screens because they aren’t easily monitored.
I have friends with older kids, and their kids are the only ones without phones in their grade. I say good for them, but it’s also hard on those young kids because literally all the other kids have their faces in their phones so no one actually talks to each other. I feel so sorry for kids these days. We justify them by saying that they keep us connected to people, when in reality I think it is having the opposite effect. I’m sure it will complicate making friends and dating as they are older.
We’ve got to make sure our kids realize the importance of friendship and community. Of face-to-face interactions with the world around them. I am not anti screens and technology. But I am pro childhood. I want my kids to play and explore. To take risks and sometimes get hurt. To organize a game with different roles and learn to compromise and work together. To look back on great memories of playing outside.
Like I said, my favorite part of cousin camp was just watching them play.
Before I dropped the cousins off I asked them what their favorite and least favorite parts of the week were. Two of them immediate chimed in with their least favorite, “farm chores”. Ha. I think they’d rather stick to just playing too.
Blessings,
Amy