Roman loved the animals in the barn. He talked at the goats, and a sheep allowed him to pet it. We saw a barn cat, and he got all excited. Pigs, llamas - all wonderful. Then we went out to the back of the barn, where the chickens and ducks were. Ah... the ducks.

I thought Roman would love the ducks, seeing as how they're his new sound besides "moo" - ducks say "duck duck" instead of "quack quack." I had bought some duck feed in a bag and was slowly trying to coax a couple ducks to come closer. Not in our laps closer, but a few feet away. I bent down to see how Roman was enjoying the ducks (well, big white geese almost), and outta nowhere comes this shaggy duck - feathers everywhere! - rips the bag of feed out of my hand and spills everywhere... on the ground around the stroller, some actually on the stroller.

The ducks all start honking and quacking and come running up the hill in a DROVE, surrounding Roman in his stroller. I thought this was a great photo op, so I ran around the ducks to get a picture. I turned in time to see Roman's face go from slightly alarmed to panic, and then.... face crumpled, tears started, and the screaming! Oh, I felt horrible! He was beside himself! I quickly scooped him up (after getting my picture, of course!) and tried to comfort him, but no luck.

I took him over by the horse to distract him, no luck... the chickens calmed him a little, until a rooster tried to peck at his fingers and he lost it all over again. I actually had to take him behind the barn where there were no animals and practically rock him back to calmness again. We then went to an animal show where baby animals were displayed and brought to us. Roman petted a calf, baby goat, but finally the piglet he touched got him to grin again.

Whew!

After we had lunch by a pond, our last stop was to see the cows. Roman not so fond of them up close - he did not want to touch them. He was clever, however. He would shake the fence to get their attention, and they would wander over and stick their noses out at him. Then he'd quickly pull his hand away and grin at them. He wanted to see them up close... but still in a safety zone! Funny kid.