Where do you take an inquiring and energetic 18-month-old on a drizzly day in the Lansing, MI area?

My son and his wife pose with their almost 18-month-old son at the MSU sheep barn. My wife is in the background left.

Because it was drizzling outside, we couldn't take him to a local park.  He sees plenty of shopping malls back home, so we took him to the Michigan State University animal barns just south of the campus.  My grandson's eyes were really big and enthusiastic as he was able to all kinds of sheep right next to him and he could take in their particular smells.  And he heard up close and personal what a lamb says.

Next we went to the cow barn where they were all waiting to be fed by a tractor-driven machine that dropped off feed in front of each cow with its head stuck through special fencing.  His eyes got even wider as he saw the size of these animals.

We stopped after two barns because of the drizzle and the cold, but I bet we will do it again when they come back.  My grandson needs to see how cows are milked and he'd love the horses and the chickens.

Such visits seem to be encouraged by MSU.  I'd recommend it and I bet my young grandson would too.

Great sign explaining the operation inside the barn.

 

 

This is a pretty slick machine for feeding the cows.

 

My grandson watches carefully how the cows are being fed.