Purina Farms Trip

Last summer I read about Purina Farms in a St. Louis visitor's guide. When I found out it was free it totally had my attention. So, this summer our play group planned a trip. We LOVED it. I would definitely recommend stopping there sometime if you are in the St. Louis area.

When we arrived they were doing a cow milking. The kids all got a chance to try it out. Faith was totally uninterested in touching the cow and getting her hands dirty, but Grace was all about it.
After the kids were finished the worker hooked up a machine and the kids got to watch it fill with milk.
Checking out the cows.
After a quick look around the barn it was time for the outdoor dog show to begin. We got there just in time to get front row seats.
Grace REALLY loved this place since she is such a dog lover. She had to bring "Buster" along to see it.
Waiting for the show to begin. It was HOT that day, and Titus thought he should go check out the pool.
The dogs would run and "dive" of a platform after frisbees. You can see the water on Titus' face. My camera also got a lot wetter than I would like.
We were in the "splash" zone. Look how
More cool tricks.
After the show they gave Grace one of the frisbees from the show. She was SO excited. We then got to go up to the Pet center and pet all the dogs from the show and see their 3 story cat house.
After this we headed back to the barn to check out more farm animals.

Upstairs was hay w/ ropes to swing.
Their were also corn tables with tractors and trucks. This was great for the little ones.
In once section the kids could ride tractors. Grace was too tall and couldn't get in.
This is the view of the upstairs in the barn. Inside each painted "barn" was a nook with hay and a rope to swing. There were also lots of tunnels to crawl through. Grace and Wyatt scared me big time when I couldn't find them at one point. They were way back in the tunnels.
Downstairs there is an interactive display that explains how they make their dog food in their factories. The kids thought it was interesting, but didn't really understand what it was. But, they liked turning the big blue wheel.

After lunch (the only cost of the whole trip besides gas) we went to another indoor dog & cat show. It was very cute and the kids loved it. I didn't get any pictures though because at that point Titus was melting and really needing a nap. We just barely made it through the show before everyone was worn out and we were at the "time for the van" point. They also had a hay ride around the grounds but we opted not to do this since it was way over 100 degrees outside.

It was a great trip especially for my dog lover. I was very impressed with the farm's hospitality. Everyone was very helpful and friendly. If you met a trainer on the way to someplace they always stopped to let the kids visit with the dogs. And the animals were very accessible for loving on and not just looking at. I'm glad we went.