Here in Arizona Shamrock Farms is a pretty popular milk brand because they are local, but if you don’t live here you can find their milk in Subways across the nation.
I’ve heard this tour is a lot of fun for kids and anywhere there is ice cream I am there, so a friend and I took the hour drive over to Shamrock Farms yesterday. The tour itself is about an hour long and you are on a tram for most of the time. They take you into this building where you can view the milking process. I have to say I was pretty impressed. I’m the kind of girl that it breaks my heart to see the documentary’s on TV that show the mistreatment of animals but Shamrock does seem to have a top rate facility and the cows seem to be treated well. Although I’m sure they wouldn’t show you the bad stuff if it does exist.
It’s obvious they take a lot of pride in the cleanliness of their facilities and the precautions they take with their milk. The cows do get milked 8 hours a day but it is not a continuous thing. They get a lot of breaks where they are allowed to step out of the line up, do their business, eat, drink, get sprayed down, and their utters disinfected before going back in. I do try to buy organic milk as much as I can so it was neat to see the organic part of the farm too. They showed us the cows that are given free range to graze all day and said they only get milked twice a day instead of 8 hours a day. That made me feel kinda bad for the regular cows.
Something I always wondered about was how they stand the heat in our hot summers but the tour guide said they keep the facilities at 72 degrees all year long.
The most impressive thing for me was hearing that they do not give any of their cows hormones or antibiotics unless they are sick (but then they don’t milk them until it is out of their system), and the organic cows don’t get antibiotics ever.
At the end of the tour you get to pick a flavor of milk which I chose dulce de leche and it was Deelicious! We also had ice cream which was equally delicious of course.
Eva loved it. She loved seeing the baby cows, playing with the milking machines, saying “moo” all day, and eating ice cream (of course).
I know not everyone lives this close to a dairy farm but I encourage you to find whatever is close in your area and do it. Do all of it while they are still young.
Description from their website
-“Real Farm. Real Fresh. It’s the way Shamrock Farms has done business for more than 80 years. A real farm with more than 10,000 cows, Shamrock Farms is one of the largest family-owned and operated dairies in the United States. A premier manufacturer of extended shelf life (esl) dairy and refrigerated liquid products, including beverage milk, non-dairy creamer, half & half, heavy whipping cream, and seasonal products such as egg nog, Shamrock Farms is a leader in the industry. And all of our products are free of the growth hormone rBST.”
Growing up 15 miles from Disneyland my Mom and Dad took us whenever they could. When they didn’t have money to take us into the park we would go on the weekends and watch the water show at the hotel and then the fireworks afterward.
Disneyland has always been a part of my childhood and whenever I go back it just invokes a feeling of happiness in me that no other place does.
Walt Disney was an inspirational person and someone I look up to for is innovate mind and his willingness to take chances and dream BIG.
In Eva’s 2 years of being on this planet she has been to Disneyland 4 times and we plan to go many more times this year since we already bought our annual passes. She is a big fan of Mickey/Minnie Mouse, Dumbo, and loves the Princesses and Tinkerbell too. What can I say it is just in her to love everything Disney. I think I’ve mentioned this here before but whenever we go to the mall she doesn’t want to play in the toy area because it is right in front of the Disney store and she just wants to hang out in there the whole time.
I am so excited because Disney on Ice is coming to Phoenix one week from Tomorrow! We are taking her and I know she is going to love it.
For all you Disney Fans out there it will be here in Phoenix April 9th – 12th and if your not in AZ click this link to see if it is in a city near you.
For the Arizona show if you enter the discount code: MOM you can get a family 4 pack for $44 which is a great deal!
To make myself feel better, and since I love to plan, I wrote down some things we can do this summer so we can still get out of the house and give our daughter fun experiences while still sticking to our budget.
1. We have a pool that I am sure will get a lot of use this summer plus there is a community pool when we want something a little bigger – FREE
2. A short drive away is Tempe Town Lake and the beach park which has a little water play area for little kids and it is FREE!
3. Continue going to story time at Barnes and Noble and the local Library- FREE
4. Shamrock Farms is a local dairy that does farm tours. Adults – $9 Children – $6
5. We can drive to the many mountain ranges that are only 1-2 hours away to escape the Phoenix heat for a day. FREE except for gas and food.
6. Harkins Theater (which is 2 minutes away) has a summer movie program. $7 for 10 movies
7. Since we just bought Disneyland annual passes a couple weeks ago and since my in laws live about 20 minutes from Disney we can drive out to California and stay with them a couple of times this summer. If gas prices stay low it will cost us about $40 in gas and food for the whole weekend will be about $100.
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I don’t know about the rest of the world but here in Arizona Spring is undeniably here! Today I sat on my back patio, drinking ice water, and sweating in the 90 degree sun. There I was trying to relax when I suddenly could no longer stand the sight of weeds in my backyard and began doing a little clean up. This is when I believe I was possibly bitten by either a desert recluse or a striped wolf spider. I was pulling on a weed when I felt a prick, I pulled my hand back and there goes running a huge spider out from the weeds. I was sooo mad at myself for not wearing gloves on both hands. I only had one on my left hand and of course was pulling with my right. I’ve seen these disgusting spiders in my backyard this time of year before and they give me the heeby jeeby’s. I just don’t understand why we need these creatures? I love nature and the outdoors but I am deathly afraid of anything that bites or stings and it ruins it for me.
Anyways, the real reason I’m writing this post is to tell you about the lovely time we had at the Renaissance fair this past weekend. Neither Chris or I had ever been but I have been wanting to go for years and knew a little bit about what to expect. It was a great way to spend a beautiful spring day. There were the usual costumed people with their fake accents and 16th century dialect. There were fairies, and royalty, and flower head wreaths. There was face painting, and walking/talking trees, tall people on stilts, and delicious treats. My favorite part was the laid back atmosphere and the characters that approach and interact with the fair-goers. Eva’s favorite part was the jousting tournament. She was enchanted by the beautiful horses, the Knights, and the King and Queen addressing the crowd.
I must say it was a delightful time and I really want to go back before it leaves at the end of March. So, if you have a Renaissance fair by you GO especially if you’ve never been before. If there’s not one by you then there must be some kind of fair close by.
Go forth and enjoy the Spring!
Photo Credit: RoyalFaires.com
Have you ever been to DLTK KIDS? I had been going to this site long before I became a mother. It was always so helpful when I needed craft ideas to do with the kids at work. Now that Eva is getting older I still love going here to print up alphabet coloring pages or different crafts I can do with her.
I added the link to my sidebar. If you have never been you need to check it out!
