Local Modesto Farm, Dutch Hollow Farms, Provides Drive Through Event For Families Amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic
Spring doesn’t look quite the same as it has in the past. Our state still has a shelter in place order in effect, meaning only essential businesses are open for business and the way we do business as usual has changed. Many stores require face masks to be worn, limit 2 people per family at a time to enter the store, and all require people to practice social distancing- meaning we stay at least 6ft apart from people not in our household. Restaurants are only available for takeout or delivery, and Starbucks is drive- through only.
With all this going on, it has been a huge challenge to find new fun things to do with my young kiddos while at home 24/7. We sometimes go on drives through town and treasure hunt for letters to spell our names, or they come with me on a coffee run so they can yell “hello” to the baristas from the back of the car. So when I saw that Dutch Hollow Farms was offering a Drive-Thru version of their annual Baby Animal Days, I knew we had to go!
We piled all three kiddos in the car after naps and headed over to the farm. When we arrived there were only a couple of cars lined up in front of us. We didn’t wait long to be greeted by their friendly staff. The cost is $7 per car with unlimited loops through the farm while you are there. We paid with our debit card and also picked up some delicious cherries to take home with us.
The farm was very clean and easy to follow the path to see the animals. We drove back and let our littles move up to the middle row of the car so they could see out the window. There were only a few cars, so we were able to stop and look at each of the animals. All of the animal pens have informational signs with fun facts about the animals, which is really fun to read through with the kids.
We drove around the side to see the baby goats first, and let me just say, they are SO adorable! I missed being able to pet them, but the drive through set-up did allow for us to drive right up next to the animal pens and see all the animals clearly. The farm also has chickens and roosters running around, so you can let your kids cockadoodledo their hearts out. I know mine did! We were then able to drive around to see the animals in the barn which included pigs, sheep, ponies, llamas, alpacas, and bunnies. The baby lambs were so so sweet and my kids loved baa-ing and oinking at the animals in the barn.
We looped around again and saw the baby calves. The kids enjoyed mooing out the window to them while we read up on the cool facts listed on the “Did you know?” sign. Even though we weren’t able to pet all the adorable baby animals this year, it was still so fun for us and the kids to see the precious babes. I am a sucker for baby animals, so I had all the warm fuzzies seeing all the little animals with their mommies. If you’re in the California Central Valley area, I would highly recommend taking a trip out to Dutch Hollow Farms with your family. It is a fun bonding time for kids and parents as well as a great educational trip for all. And who doesn’t love baby animals? My kids won’t stop talking about the animals or eating the delicious cherries we picked up. They want them on everything!
You are probably familiar with Dutch Hollow Farms from their amazing pumpkin patch full of family events each year. Well they also host a variety of events throughout the year for the whole family! The up to date event info is available via the Dutch Hollow Farms Facebook page. Farmer John also posts updates to Instagram, so follow along in his stories. Baby Animal Days is the perfect way to get you and your kids out of the house while also supporting local business! Remember to grab some cherries! I hear sunflowers are next! Whenever you choose to visit, I hope you’re all finding ways to have some family fun this Spring.
See the City of Modesto Virtual Recreation Center for more ideas of things to do with your family.
