Monday, February 16, 2009

Awesomely Cool

"Awesomely Cool" was how the kids described our first outing to Al-Sorat Farm... and who could blame them? It was a day of many firsts for them. Let me stop right here and give a heartfelt thanks to Maryanne, our hostess. The kids had a wonderful time, as did we, and we blame her entirely... well, ok, she had a lot of furry 4-legged accomplices... but because we accuse Maryanne of being responsible for their sweet and loving upbringing, she gets full blame for our having a very nice day on her farm. She gets much thanks also for answering all our questions, spending so much time explaining everything, and teaching the kids (and us) about her animals. It was a true pleasure, and we look forward to visiting again soon!

The kids had never been hands-on close to goats or donkeys before, definitely not baby goats, and even the opportunity to run, pet and play with the dogs was a new experience. They are used to cats - and indoor cats at that. Having a chance to cuddle the pups was fun! I have to say that I was surprised. I thought Brian would be more interested in the dogs, and Honor, the baby goats, but I got it backwards. Honor was a little overwhelmed by the dogs at first, but she reacted well. No squealing and running, or otherwise acting like bait. She stood still and listened. Soon enough she was talking to them like old friends. Not that I was worried, these dogs are well-trained and it shows, but I am happy that she behaved properly around them. Brian jumped right in - in his usual scientific manner - when it came to the horses too, asking questions and stating opinions. (Thanks for letting him ride Lily, his instant favorite!)

I like that when I asked them what their favorite part of the day was, they could not make up their mind and listed everything!

As I couldn't pick a favorite picture, I made a slide show. I was thinking of using a rock song as background music - because 'rockin'!' was another adjective the kids have used to describe their day - but I used an Enya song, "Anywhere Is", instead. That was the tune that kept going through my mind as I looked at the photos.

14 comments:

Unknown said...

Nice photos! It looks like you spent a nice day. And I love that song by Enya.

Question...what software program do you use for your slideshow? I make a slideshow at the end of every year but I can't export it to YT.

junglemama said...

What an awesome day! I am not sure all of my kids would have been willing to get so close to the buffalo!

Nicole said...

One of my life long dreams is to visit Egypt. Your kids will have life long memories of your time there. I could only wish that my kids will see that someday.
How is it that you ended up in Egypt???

Connie said...

Danie - the melody fit the mood! I used Windows Movie Maker and saved it as a .wmv Pretty sure the program came with the computer. Dell Windows XP media edition.

Christine - They kids probably would not have had a choice, all of the animals were extremely friendly... most were very well-mannered too, or still in training. The donkey who 'tasted' Honor (not hard enough to upset her) is very, very young and still learning how to play with people, she was such a snuggler!

Nicole - Egypt is definitely worth the visit! We've enjoyed our time here (our jobs brought us here) and we like it enough to hope we can repeat this assignment again in future. Having the kids here when they're little is very nice, but I'd love to have them get another chance when they are older too.

rachaelgking said...

So cute! What I wouldn't give for an animal- any animal!

Connie said...

Lilu - you have B! What more could you possibly wish for ;-)

Lydia said...

Oh, so sweet! Kids need animals. I won't be getting a goat to accompany us on our future travels, but a small furry type needs to be in our future. They are therapeutic.

MsTypo said...

I was wondering what your farm comment on facebook meant! LOL Sounds like you had an awesome day!

Connie said...

Lydia - that's the hardest part of this expat life, not knowing where you'll be next - so how to plan for the next 10-16 years of a pet's life?! Our cats are good travelers.

Cairo Typ0 - It was an awesome day! :-D I love watching the kids as they grow and learn and they had fun, so I had fun.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that looks like a great day out! It`s so good for kids to have the experience of getting close to animals. I grew up surrounded by goats, cats, rabbits and dogs, but my kids haven`t had much experience with animals . . . not even the zoo.

Anonymous said...

Connie - Wow, the kids were right, awesome. sigh I miss being over there. Ready to go back. Perhaps soon.

Connie said...

Expat mom - Zoos are sad. I remember your post about your outdoorsy childhood :-) how lucky!

Dan - When you travel, you dream of home, get home, you want to travel!

Anonymous said...

Connie, my husband worked for Maryanne's late husband, we lived in Agamy for two years, two of the best years in our lives. Maryanne is a one-of-a-kind person and am very proud to call her my friend. Her passion is her animals and her famr and it shows. We were fortunate to have 4 of her Rat Terriers while we were there. We still keep in touch with Maryanne and hope to visit her soon.

Connie said...

Hi Barry - I've always believed that a great 'instant read' of who a person is, can be determined by meeting their animals. It's a yardstick that does not lie!