A Painted Pony Farm

In a word: Pastoral

Ventura is more like a coastal hamlet, surrounded on three sides by farmland.  The fourth side is ocean.  We're on the coast.  It's beautiful.  (Shh.  Don't tell anyone.)  People drive through my town to get to other places, but that's OK with me. I like to keep it small. It's nice that way. Anyway, there are two main roads out of town, the 33 towards Ojai (like Oh haaaai), and the 126 towards Santa Paula. When you get to Santa Paula, you can veer a little to the right, and keep going, you'll head back towards Ojai.  It's like a triangle.  If you are lucky enough to take that right, you will embark on an unbelievably beautiful drive.  Here is one place you can visit if you take that drive.

Storytime:  I trekked out with the kids for a field trip arranged by my friend Melissa. Note: Since I'm a mom with a money-earning job (read: All Mothers Are Working Mothers), I've fallen a bit out of the loop, which sucks. I don't feel as connected with women who are raising kids the same age as mine. So when the opportunity arises for the kids and me to spend time with these wonderful people, we take it and run. Or drive, as the case was this week. Anyway, Melissa arranged a group to convene at The Painted Pony Farm in Santa Paula. We drove towards the hills, rising from sea level into the beauty of Santa Paula's lemon orchards and ranches, on roads cut into towering cliffs and deep ravines. Last month's rain turned the hills into a billowy quilt of green. The grass grew high. The clean, warm air tasted like spring.

We pulled into a little dirt parking lot next to a cheery yellow house with a lush green garden. Our friends had already arrived and were playing on the grass in the front yard. Farmer Pam greeted us wearing red overalls and plaid shirt. The kids could hardly contain their excitement for the oncoming adventure.

First on the agenda was the chicks. Each child, with the help of a parent, held one baby chicken. Frankly, any parent who doesn't melt at the sight of their baby holding a baby animal lacks a soul. The kids were enchanted!  The chicks were adorable.  Alexandria let hers run around, and she just watched.

Farmer Pam then took the kids to make ice cream from fresh goat's milk. Now, there may be naysayers out there who might scoff at the idea goat's milk ice cream, but let me tell you, this was something special. Each child participated by adding one ingredient, and then Farmer Pam threw in the elbow grease. She put the ice cream in the mixer, and off we traipsed to the corrals.

First, the kids got to milk a goat. Seriously. They got to milk a freaking goat. Then they got to feed the goats. Then, they got to chase the goats. Lots and lots of goats. Farmer Steve then let out the sheep, and by then, the kids were kind of on overload and they didn't know what they wanted to do next. Farmers Pam and Steve have a wonderful menagerie of animals, including goats, sheep, chickens, rabbits, a HUGE pig, and ponies. And most of these animals just had babies.  Talk about cute.  I'm sorry, but little kids and baby farm animals?  Ridonkulous.  I wanted to punch somebody it was so cute.  On a side note, Farmer Pam and Farmer Steve are two of the most generous, kind souls I've ever met.  Farmer Pam kept calling the kids "Lovebugs" and Farmer Steve chatted it up with everybody.  They seem like people who have met their calling.  They are a joy to be around.  You can read their wonderful story here.

About 45 minutes of chasing, herding, petting, and feeding farm animals tends to wear out small people, so out of the paddoc we headed.  By then, the ice cream was done, and we all enjoyed a visit on the grass in the shade.  The day had warmed up, and we'd all wilted.  The ice cream perked us up perfectly.  Our two hour visit to A Painted Pony Farm came to an end, but the storytelling and chattering had just begun.  Alexandria talked the entire ride home about, well, everything.  Except she kept mixing up Farmer Pam with Peter Pan, and so Farmer Pam became a hybrid: Peter Pam.  Hilar.

If you ever find yourself in my neck of the woods, or know that you and your little ones are headed my way, please call Farmer Pam and schedule a visit.  You will love it.  You will absolutely love it.  Unless you don't like farms or farm animals or nice people.  If that is the case, then you might be uncomfortable.  Otherwise, you will love it.