I thought I would be really smart and plan a trip for Zen and cousin Madison to the much-crowded and sought after Goebbert's Farm in Barrington. I have a love-hate relationship with Goebberts, I think. It has so many fun things--corn maze, straw maze, hay ride...you can buy all kinds of farm products, ride a pony or, if you are more adventurous, a camel. There are things to climb and play on, acres of pumpkins of all kinds, and a Halloween store. There is a haunted house (not for anyone under the age of 5, as we found out with Zion years ago). There is a pumpkin-eating dinosaur and a track for pig races which take place regularly throughout the day. The best reason for me to go to Goebbert's, however, is its absolutely amazing, un-toppable petting zoo. It features 4 tents of exotic animals, including baby zebras, giraffes, antelopes and rare goats and deer of all sorts. It's clean and thrilling and (for a price) you can feed just about any one of the animals by hand. I, personally, could spend all day there.
What's not to like about Goebberts? The prices, for one thing. Everything is expensive, and on the weekends, they jack things up even more for the poor working suckers that can't get a weekday off. The second thing is the crowds--oh, the crowds! On sunny Sundays in October, the line to turn into the parking lot can literally be a mile long. Want a pony ride? Be prepared to wait for 40 minutes to buy your tickets and another 40 minutes to ride the little beasts. Hungry? You'd better hope you brought food of your own, not like that inexperienced mom waiting for her hot dogs for 30 minutes with 2 toddlers screaming their heads off. All of this is enough to turn an ideal family jaunt into the 5th circle of hell after a very short time. I know this--I've been coming to this place for years!
This year, however, I was smart. I decided to take the kids on a Monday. Zion was supposed to be in school, but he accompanied us at the last minute due to a headache. I packed some snacks and, as usual, some horse treats (we don't pay a dollar a cup for animal feed at the petting zoo--no way!). I packed some water and a camera to capture the fun and photogenic moments we were sure to have as we romped, crowd-free, through the entire farm. The one thing I didn't take into account was...Columbus Day!!! Evanston is one of those enlightened places that DOESN'T celebrate Columbus Day, so you just kind of forget about it when you live here...until you approach the parking lot of Goebbert's Farm and see about 2,000 cars in the parking lot!!!!
Well, a promise is a promise. We modified our agenda, skipped the pony rides, and just tackled the petting zoo area. Our high point (literally) was up on the giraffe platform, when we discovered that the giraffes really preferred horse cookies to the $3 carrots that everyone else was shoving in their faces. They ate cookie after cookie out of our hands with their big, soft, gentle mouths as dozens of people pressed against us, trying to tempt them away.
Here are some pictures; we didn't get as many as I thought we would.
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