Summer 2026 Recap

You guys… It’s Mrs. Taylor here to unpack summer 2026. We blinked, and summer is officially over. We aren’t sure how we are here, but we had the best summer with your kids!

Summer 2026 was one for the books. Kristi and I spent time reflecting after our last class yesterday, and we have so much to share with you all about the last few months.

First off, if you sent your kids to the farm this summer, we just want to say thank you so much for entrusting us with them. We have always believed that the right kids and families find us, and this summer was no exception.

I am not even sure where to start unpacking the last few months, but I think it would be best to start at the very beginning… before we even opened the doors for summer camps in May. 

Kristi and I had planning sessions weekly for about six months in preparation for this summer. The behind-the-scenes work that goes into preparing a care farm for this amount of children is something that I truly don’t think anyone understands… and I certainly didn’t when I was not working for GL and I was just a parent dropping my daughter Blayke off.

As we were dreaming up how this summer would look, one thing was very clear. We wanted to get more organized with how our stations were laid out, have more options for kids to just be kids, and utilize every space at the farm to its full potential. This included hundreds of hours of work out on the farm—moving structures, adding storage shelves, hanging shades, sprucing up each area, and bringing our dreams to life out there.

I think it is safe to say that all of that hard work paid off quickly after watching the kids during the first week of summer camp! Each kid had their own “favorite” area of the farm and got to explore and experience all of the changes, and they loved them.

You might hear us say “let kids be kids” a lot around here at GL, but this summer we got to see that in action, and it was the most beautiful thing to witness. We saw kids ages 3–16 engaged in something bigger than themselves, handling the animals with care, teaching each other, and spending time with these amazing animals. We also saw these same kids exploring in our mud kitchen, getting their hands dirty, exploring through play, building seesaws with wood stumps, and using their imaginations like it was the ’90s again.

I think one of my favorite things to watch this summer was the kids’ teamwork and ability to make friends with kids they had never met before—all because of one common denominator: they were a part of this farm community together. The friendships we saw form and the bonds they made with each other (and us) will never be forgotten.

When you get to witness kids being kids in real time, it is something pretty special and unique that I will never take for granted. No screens. No music. No adults prompting them to do something. Just true exploration with a pile of wood, some sticks, rocks, water, and their imagination. And let me tell you… getting to see that is pure magic!

Not only were the kids able to explore and be kids, we saw some incredible kids become animal lovers for life. There is something to be said about watching kids care for something greater than themselves, and this year, adding baby goats to the mix added some extra FUN… and exhaustion (for us, HA!).

We were putting in 20+ hour days, Kristi was up all hours of the night checking on these babies, and still getting up in the morning to serve kids and let them be a part of this beautiful experience. We had to be strict as these little guys acclimated to their new surroundings, learned how to feed with their mamas, and started to get used to the world around them.

This experience alone taught the kids so much. I think the most beautiful lesson with baby goats this summer was that good things take time, patience is key, and the health of these babies was far more important than the instant gratification of holding them or snuggling them, especially in those early days. The kids got to witness this all firsthand, and they got to see these goats after only a few hours of being born. That’s a core memory that we hope sticks with them for the rest of their lives.

While the baby goats were obviously the STAR of the show this summer, another beautiful lesson was taught to us and the kids as we watched the rest of the animals start to act very differently the more babies we welcomed… and the less time we spent with them.

The animals started demanding attention, especially Miss Stella (are we surprised?), and we processed this all together as a group. We related this a lot to having a new brother or sister at home. First, you are so excited, your adrenaline is high, and then as the days go on, you start to settle into the new normal. Maybe the baby is getting more attention than you are, or you feel like Mom and Dad aren’t always as present as they used to be.

And this is EXACTLY how the rest of the animals here at GL were feeling. As the excitement wore off, they got really sad that they weren’t getting as much love and attention as they were used to. The kids picked up on this lesson quickly and started to come up with solutions. They started bringing our big animals vegetables to make them feel loved, would ask to brush them more often, give them baths, and find other ways to spend a little extra time with them. And it was incredible!

I think that is what made this summer so special. There were the lessons we planned for, and then there were the lessons that happened naturally just by giving kids the time and space to experience life on the farm.

We watched them learn patience, responsibility, teamwork, empathy, and how to care for something other than themselves. We watched friendships form, imaginations run wild, kids get dirty, animals become best friends, and so many memories being made along the way.

As Kristi and I reflected on the last few months, I think we both realized just how lucky we are to get a front-row seat to all of it.

So as we officially wrap up summer 2026, thank you. Thank you for trusting us with your kids, for allowing them to be part of this farm community, and for believing in what we do here. We hope they walked away from this summer with dirty clothes, new friendships, a whole lot of stories, and memories that they will carry with them for a very long time.

What a summer it was. We are so grateful we got to spend it with your kids. 🤎