Ropp Jersey Cheese Farm

Today was Kara's final field trip of the year.  Jack and I joined her and her class as they visited Ropp Jersey Cheese Farm.  As far as I know, it is the only farm in Central Illinois that raises its own cows and then produces, packages, and sells their own cheese.

We had a tour of the farm and met some Jersey calves and cows.
We watched the cows get milked (but chose not to participate in that ourselves).

We took a hayrack ride around the farm,

climbed on the hay bales,

picked some flowers,

and had story time in the barn.

We also posed patiently as mommy took our pictures.

The highlight of the trip however, was Tom.  Tom is a "big fat turkey" that lives on the farm.  He comes up and greets visitors, and then proceeds to follow the group around as they tour the farm.  Wherever we went, Tom followed along.  Much to the delight (or dismay) of the children.

It was our first time there, but it certainly won't be our last.  Especially after mommy bought lots and lots of homemade cheese to take home.  Yum!  While fresh cheese might have been easy to come by when we lived in Wisconsin, this is the best we have found around here so far!  Can't wait to come back in the fall for another visit, and to visit the neighbor's pumpkin farm : )