Today was such a great family day! We somehow, despite staying up til all hours in the night, woke up at the crack of dawn! And by we, I mean the wee little ones who stayed up whispering til midnight. We got to see my sister’s new church and Jeremy got another great taste of what a very traditional Lutheran church service was like. Needless to say, he was missing Faith this morning. After church, a wardrobe change and a quick lunch, we packed it in and headed up to UConn, home of the Huskies.

 

I love UConn…this is something you should just know about me. I don’t care a lot about sports but I pay attention to the Cards, the Packers and the Huskies. (As well as whatever Basketball team Pau Gasol is on at the time) But my love for it expanded past basketball and into admiration for the campus. Just like the rest of Connecticut, the campus is gorgeous. My brother in law took us over to the UConn Dairy Bar for ice cream and YUMMY. (More in the “Foods We Ate” Section) In addition to a drive by campus tour and a trip to the gift shop, our tour included some up close and personal visits to the cows at their animal farms. We just missed watching them get milked but I can’t lie…the over-sensitive 13 year old animal rights activist was a little glad. Although, I will say that as far as milking farms go, this was

by far the nicest and they had several bovine that looked as if they had been rescued from other inhumane situations. Personally, I have not met a happier group of cows and when you see what the pastures look like, you’ll understand why.

 

 

 

 

I even got to rescue one who’s tail was caught on a fence! Ms. Plum was so happy, she almost get it stuck again from wagging her tail with glee! Oliver was so proud he told everyone we saw that day that his ‘Mommy rescued a cow!’ It was a little exhilarating and I can honestly say that I’ve never had a cow nuzzle up to me before.  🙂

There is something to be said about the beauty and simplicity of New England. Surrounding yourself with nature is probably the easiest thing you could do here and there is no lacking in the scenic drive arena. Literally, every drive you take is up to par with the drives I used to take with my parents up to Mount Vernon. (A drive everyone should experience in the fall.) Every road you take is winding and curves around the earth and trees with a respect for her natural beauty. They didn’t blow through mountains to accommodate the roads, they made the roads accentuate the land they were building on. Just gorgeous.

The escape from consumerism is something that was largely unexpected and extremely refreshing to see. When you drive through St Louis you are bombarded with shopping centers, food options and even billboard ads. You are never more than a 15 minute drive from a Walmart or Target and there is always a chain grocery store within walking distance. While this is amazingly convenient, it’s also kinda sad when you think about it. Why do we need all that stuff? Why are we so dependent on buying stuff and eating stuff that we have to have it constantly intermingled into our line of vision daily?

Here we are surrounded by green! The trees are overwhelming in abundance and the towns are condensed and spread out so no matter where you go you’re surrounded by beauty. They have everything you need but instead of the eye sores of shopping centers everywhere, they are intermingled and hidden by the beauty of God’s earth. Maybe it’s time we let go of our need for convenience and live like they do in the Nawth. 🙂