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Down on the Farm
Escape to Simplicity, Education and Livestock!
By Jacqueline Rupp
Was your last vacation filled with more stress than relaxation? Was your schedule more booked than an average workweek? Or did you find yourself standing in more lines than at the grocery store? If you still believe a vacation is a time to kick back and enjoy life, then maybe it's time to go down on the farm. Complete with cows to milk, chicks to feed and fruit to pick, farm stay vacations are becoming quite popular because of their simplicity and personalized attention.
If you're wondering how your kids might react to the lack of water slides, costumed characters and extravagant entertainment, you might be surprised at what the "simple life" has to offer.
"Some families don't get into their car until it's time to leave," says Sally Hassinger of Mountain Dale Farm in McClure, Pa., about the visitors to her farm. "They find so much to do on the farm. They choose to spend laid-back time here. Families have their own creative approaches and find fulfillment on the farm. One family even does videos, writes a script and acts out the action using the farm as a backdrop."
A farm stay can give the whole family a new perspective. Something magical happens when you combine children and a farm. Simple chores like feeding livestock and picking eggs become wondrous moments of discovery. A huge field turns into a land of freedom where kids can run as fast as their feet can carry them while the night's sky becomes a natural light show.
"At home I cannot imagine my son without videos and DVDs," says Lynda Mermell of Towson, Md., a frequent visitor with her son, Ziad, to Mountain Dale Farms. "At the farm we don't miss them. We cook dinner and clean up together, play cards, go for walks in the dark and visit the apple storage shed where he can actually roller-skate. He is a very active child and likes to be on the move. What better place [to do so] than on 175 acres?"