E and I went to Farm Day at Abma's this past weekend. He had swim lessons first and it seemed a little cool out for the town pool. I figured it's rare to get spring weather in the summer so it was a good day to be at a farm. Plus I just wanted to do something different.
I don't really know where to start. I love Abma's Farm in Wyckoff. We go there a lot in the spring and fall to feed the goats and sheep and get some great food. But this Farm Day thing was total chaos, kind of for no reason.
We got there at 11:30. I already had to park really far away. I didn't really understand that the hayride was to get you from the far parking to the farm. I'm still not really sure if that was the sole purpose. I think there should've been someone at this far parking lot handing out their flyer that they had up by the actual activities or just explaining everything.
Then, we got up to the "event area" and you had to buy tickets. The tickets were for food, the pony rides, and some other things. I didn't know how long it was going to take on the pony line or I probably wouldn't have bothered. This was where the hold up was going on. The line at 11:45 was already long. They were only using one pony. But there was another in there. Halfway through my wait they started using the second pony. I don't know if there was a reason they weren't using it before that but these pony rides were taking FOREVER. And then of course there was that asshole mother with three kids who had to get the perfect photos of each of the three kids when it was their turn so that made it longer. I get the picture thing. But really? When there is like 50 hot, whiny kids on the line this isn't photo-op time. I highly doubt it's the last time Precious #1, #2, & #3 are going to be a on a pony. Or do what I did- try to sneak a candid while he's riding. The boys running it were super nice. It just would've been nice to tell everyone why only one pony was taking riders for the majority of the time.
Because it was only 11:45 when I got on that pony line I figured we'd eat after. WELL, I didn't finish with the line and the ride until 12:45. Yup. A QUARTER TO 1:00p. I waited an HOUR. So then I was starving, E was punchy from having waited on that line so long, and I look by the food and see the line was so long I couldn't even see the end. Well, I didn't think to buy more tickets because I just wanted to secure my place. I'd so wished I'd eaten BEFORE the pony ride. I only had three tickets left so I was able to get 2 ribs and a cupcake for E & I to share. I was just praying he'd try the rib. He did. And he liked it. But that may just be because he was starving. I will say the food was delicious. They also gave vegetables for free. We had a tomato and cucumber salad and some raw peppers. Everything was awesome.
I understand why they did the ticket thing but I waited FORTY-FIVE minutes on that food line. And the problem was, you couldn't change your mind and just order whatever. It all depended on how many tickets you had. So I would've liked to get more food but I wasn't getting out of that line to buy more tickets. Maybe there could've been a ticket booth right before the food so if you saw there was more you wanted to buy you could've easily gotten more tickets. Or a girl walking up and down the line with a roll of tickets asking if anyone needed more. They also should've had three different food lines. One for the lemonade, one for dessert and one for food. Instead, it was all together with the lemonade and desserts first. It was had to carry everything together too. Now, had there been three separate lines, they would've moved much faster.
I know the flyer or online description mentioned they'd be roasting a pig. But I've never actually seen that so I didn't really know it would be so out in the open and look like a roasting baby. It was SO gross. I just found it odd at a place where you have children really into animals and feeding live ones, they'd have a dead one just roasting out there like it was a normal everyday thing to see. Hey- I ate the ribs. It's not like I'm a Vegetarian. I get it. But it was totally disconcerting to see it just splayed out there. I just steered E away from it and he never saw it.
Lastly, we went to feet the sheep and goats and they must have been so overfed by the crowd, they weren't even hungry. E didn't get it and was bummed they wouldn't eat the crackers but I assured him we'd come again. The un-hungry animals is obviously no fault of Abma's but it just added to the meltdown E had when I tried to leave.
Other than that, I think it could've been a really great even had things been a bit more organized. I'm sure the rest of the food was awesome- they had chicken legs and pulled pork sliders. I would love to try it when there isn't a line of 50 people ahead of me. I left after the food because I was just tired of being on line and we'd been there two hours and only did two "events". Since of those events was just eating, E wasn't really thrilled but I had just had enough. I'll be back soon though since I have a bag full of goat crackers.
http://www.abmasfarm.com/
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