Life on the Farm

 My best friend, Danae and I met through Cru at West Chester University. Our lives have intertwined throughout the years. They now live in West Chester with their three boys and we regularly spend time together.
Danae grew up in Chambersburg on a farm. She didn't move to this particular house until high school, but where she grew up was only 4 farms away, and literally down the road. We've been talking about all of us going out to her parent's place and staying a few day and we finally made it happen.
The first morning Lilia, Danie (Danae's youngest, 5) and Alex were out riding bikes at 7am - even before breakfast.

 Danae grew up in a house just behind her grandparent's dairy farm and farm house. Although Grandma Diller no longer milks cows, she still rents the land out to other dairy farmers. We walked over to meet the cows.

We played in the sprinkler

 Jack, their oldest, took us for golf cart rides around Danae's 90 year old Grandmom's property.

We stopped by a lovely farmstand with the reddest, sweetest, freshest strawberries ever!

Lilia, Alex & Daniel played it the barn, raking up the stray hay with sticks.

 So this is an old-fashioned milking room. Grandma Diller took us in and showed around - telling wonderful stories of the past.
When they started dairy farming, they milked by hand. Then they eventually turned the work over these machines. The cows would come into the room and stand on a level above the glass milk bottles. A machine would hook up to their teats and do the milking. The milk would go into these large glass bottles (for lack of a better word.) Then the cows would exit out a sliding door (the kind people (I) pin on Pinterest for their home). It was really cool.
Danae said how she wasn't allowed in this room growing up because it was too dangerous. The cows would sometimes kick and standing down where the bottles are would be right at kicking level.

Roger and Joyce (on their anniversary going out for a drive).

I'm so thankful for the generous hospitality of Roger and Joyce! We had such a wonderful time with them and the whole family!
I personally loved life on the farm. I had fun weeding the corn field and collecting field rocks. The kids helped dig them out and put them in the wagon. I think all together we collected about 7-8 wagon loads. I was able to take some stones home. I put them out back in the garden to remember the fun times we had.