Davis Farmland Love

If you have a child/children under the age of 12, and live near enough to Sterling MA, sweet christmas go to Davis Farmland straight away. This place, this nirvana, is not just kid-friendly, it is actually designed for them. Like, you wouldn't even come here if you didn't have kids. I simply don't know where to begin regarding the completely awesome wonderful time we had there yesterday. There is so much to do and see, but somehow it is a manageable, easy, and relaxed environment. We stayed all day and it was not hard to do!

So Davis Farmland is a great place to take your little animals to see other little animals. They sell $3 feed cups at admission, which you quickly realize is the best $3 you will ever spend. There are animals everywhere. Most are in little pens but you can freely enter and exit them, get as close as you would like to and touch and feed almost all of them. The ones that aren't in enclosures just roam freely, basking in the sun and not even thinking about what life would be like on the other side of the fence. It's the only explanation for how peaceful they all were. 

Actually, we were told that the one animal who ever made an escape was this guy:

The slowest of them all, isn't that funny? They found him a half mile down the road. Allegedly.

The goats and sheep, for their part, were very eager to eat. There was no evidence whatsoever that they are tired of the same feed being shoved down their throats by the gallon every day.  They see someone coming who is under 4 feet tall and holding a red cup? They know what's next and they line right up.

The boys held a TON of different things: baby goats, lizards, kittens, chicks, mice...

That mouse right there did a huge (by mouse standards) #2 in Ashton's palm. Which brings me to: just as you are thinking that your kids' hands have been slobbered all over by these animals and you are looking around for a place to wash them or for some Purell...voila. There are sinks and hand sanitizer dispensers all over this place. The sinks and toilets are even kid height! I'm telling you, Davis Farmland FTW.

After all the animals, we hopped on a hayride. This was the last picture Jason was in charge of.

Can you see any four-legged animals? Any hay bales or a tractor or anything that would indicate this is a hay ride? Or the other half of Jason's face for that matter? No, you cannot. I love him but his pictures are terrible (he knows).

After that, we sat at one of the zillion covered picnic tables (that had complimentary wipes on them!) and had lunch, which I had brought, but there was an awesome BBQ stand as well as an indoor cafe. We didn't sit long because the boys were itching to sift for some treasure (which, obviously, they "found"):

They fished:

Slid:

Posed:

And raced.

Not pictured is the Halloween parade and candy hunt they participated in, as well as learning how to milk a faux cow, the pony ride, and all the playgrounds. There were play structures all over the place - plus little interactive and pretend areas, plus a bounce house, PLUS in the summer they have a huge spray park. I just can't even describe how much there was to do here.

At this point you may be thinking this all sounds busy and nightmarish. It was not! There was no sensory overload in any way, for kids or their parents. I would not have objected to a beer tent, but other than that, I literally have no recommendations for improvement. It was perfect.

On our way out we noticed that the orchard across the parking lot was still open for apple picking. We were like, well, we're here, so...$7 bought a half peck and off we went!

Well I've done it. I've overposted for no reason. But I couldn't help myself. Our day at Davis Farmland was a 10 so if you meet my initial criteria, go. You are guaranteed to have fun AND get naps on the car ride home! What else is there to want ;)