Today we decided to take the kids out for a different kind of outing. Something that wasn’t too far, something not too expensive ( taking 2 adults and 3 kids, can get expensive ), and all in all something we don’t do very often. We took them to La Ferme Guyon, off of highway 10, just outside Montreal. This place is a combination of farmer’s market, artisan store, nursery ( tree not kids ), small animal farm and a butterfly aviary. Yeah, I know that sounds like a lot, but this place is pretty big.
We’ve taken them to areas where they can pet animals ( think Parc Safari, Granby Zoo ), as well as the Botanical Garden’s aviary, so it’s not completely new to them, but its been a while. The farm was rather small, but being early in the day, the boys were able to feed the rabbits, roosters, goats and llama, and see all the other animals ( cows, pigs, ponies, chickens, emus and peacocks ) while they were eating. Even though the size wasn’t awesome, the level at which they could interact, and the age of the boys, they had a blast. It was nice seeing their faces light up being able to feed the rabbits and pet them.
As for the aviary, it was smaller than the one at the Botanical Gardens, maybe 50% smaller, but there were so few people, we had room to walk around, and see the butterflies and they weren’t shy to come land on the boys’ hands ( which made the day of my middle son ). We were in there over an hour, and the boys had a blast, just walking around and picking up ( letting the butterflies climb on their hands ) the butterflies, and just watching them. I was honestly impressed and more than a little proud, to see my 4 1/2 year old helping his 2 year old brother pick up a butterfly and telling him to be gentle. This son, is the opposite of gentle when it comes to EVERYTHING, so seeing him in this situation was just overwhelming. So overwhelming in fact, that we picked up a small aviary kit, and a couple chrysalids ( of monarch butterflies ) to bring home. I’ll write about that soon.
As for the rest of the “farm”, it was a combination of live plants ( indoor and outdoor ), fresh market goods ( honey, caramels, local meats, cheeses, etc ) and some artisan made goods. This week-end was free access to the farm and aviary for the kids, which made it interesting. Access to the market is free, but the aviary and farm cost a couple of dollars for kids.
All in all, it was a nice way to spend a couple of hours this morning. The boys enjoyed it and we picked up a couple things to snack on for ourselves. It’s something I’d recommend ( mind you we went because it was free for kids this week-end, so I wouldn’t be able to tell you the cost normally for them, and it was 12$ per adult, still cheaper than the Botanical Garden though).