corn

Last Saturday, we took Mio to Frying Pan Farm Park in Herndon, a historical farm where you can see all kinds of animals and experience farm life from the 1920’s. We met up with our friends Stephanie and Chwan and their adorable son Danny, who is three months older than Mio! We’ve been wanting to have a playdate for the two cuties to meet, and this was the perfect opportunity, since both of them love animals!

Closeup of the cow. — One of the cows at Frying Pan Farm.

Mio is focused on the cows. — Mio and Danny were focused on the cows as the mommies chatted away.

Mio and Danny watching the piglets. — Mio and Danny watching the piglets nursing.

Danny and Mio — There was a sandbox filled with corn kernels (instead of sand) for them to play in. What a great idea — a whole less messy than sand!

Playing with the corn kernels. — Mio playing with the corn kernels.

In amazement at the baby goat. — Staring in amazement at the baby goat.

One really cool attraction they had there was cow milking! Even I’ve never seen a cow getting milked, so it was very cool to see and experience! I was trying to explain to Mio that they were squeezing the “minmi” (Japanese baby word for “milk”) that she drinks out of the cow, and she started pulling on her ears. Dan and I were confused for a few seconds, but then it dawned on me that she was confusing the word with “mimi” (which is Japanese for “ear”). I couldn’t help but laugh!

She started touching her ears. — Mio pulling her ears by the cow.

Mio learning how to milk the cow (with some help from Daddy)

Because Frying Pan Farm Park is a historical site and they showcase farm life from the 1920’s, they have a lot of old-fashioned traditional machines that have survived for almost a century! This machine de-kernels corn, and it’s the original machine from the 1920’s! I couldn’t believe how well it still worked, and so efficiently too (it uses very little gas to operate)!

Danny and Mio watching a machine dekernel corn — Danny and Mio watching a machine de-kernel corn

They were very interested in the machine. — The kiddos were just as interested in the machine as the adults!

Hitting their corn cobs together. — Hitting their de-kerneled corn cobs together.

Trying to climb up... typical Mio behavior. — Mio trying to climb up the bars of a fence… typical Mio behavior.

Another neat machine they had was one in which you’d throw apples in, and the apples would get transported up into a mechanism that would turn the apples into apple cider! They handed out apples for kids and their parents to throw into the machine, so that we could watch them go up.