Postcard I picked up from the Rockford Art Museum, which says starting from top,

“Most Dangerous Cities in America, Greetings from No. 9” Bottom right corner, “Safer than Baltimore, Rockford IL.”

From the artists at www.wearefatherless.com

Being from Wisconsin, I used to view Rockford, Illinois as a speed bump on the way to Chicago. The city has had a bad reputation (see above postcard lampooning its national ranking). I didn’t give Rockford a passing thought until last year when I stopped at a rest area along I90 and saw a flyer for Rockford’s Discovery Center Museum. I was surprised to read that Rockford has one of the best children’s museums in the country. Hmm, what a great pit stop for our kid…

Then I realized that our CSA farm, Angelic Organics, is very close to Rockford. Early in the summer they sent out a newsletter featuring a variety of family-oriented classes in their Learning Center, which is located at the farm. I noticed that class on the making of goat milk ice cream. I wondered aloud to my husband if we could plan a weekend in Rockford. He was game.

I blogged already about my experience on the farm, but I did it anonymously then. I want to share some additional photos I took of the magical hours we spent there:

Charlie loved the goats.

My husband Mike, The Goat Whisperer. If you can’t tell, Mike has a great sense of humor.

Charlie was riveted listening to the presentation

 I think Mike looks like a farmer in this shot. Mike commented to me that he comes from farmers. Just a few generations ago his family was farming in China. I told him that it’s only natural that he felt comfortable there.

 Mike volunteered to be the guy who holds the feed while the goat gets milked. He’s a jokester a lot of the time, but he was very serious before the goat came in because he was focused on not screwing up.

Mike feeding the goat, while the instructor explained what we need to do. After I took the shot, she held the goat’s hind legs so the goat wouldn’t kick anyone.

We all left the farm, happy and content. I really felt a sense of well-being. Jeez, I have a major case of barnheart.

Who wouldn’t want to move here. Read my first post about visiting the farm.

Next week I’ll share part two of our trip…more of Rockford and our visit to an amazing children’s museum…