Planning a surprise birthday outing for your friend is not an easy task by any means.  When you throw in the global pandemic and the limitations that come with it, including the need to social distance, wear masks, vaccinate, and various individual comfort levels with the virus, the task is daunting.  We didn’t want to do another meetup outdoor around a fire pit for drinks or a meal.  We wanted to try something new, enjoyable, and above all safe.  One friend came up with the idea of goat yoga.  The idea of doing yoga outdoors with cute baby goats roaming around fascinated us all.  The activity checked all the required boxes (outdoor activity, social distancing, novelty, togetherness, and entertaining).  Would the birthday girl be into it?  We couldn’t remember if she even liked yoga, never mind goat yoga.

The outing was kept a secret and the only instruction to the birthday girl was to wear something comfortable. Meanwhile, her jokester husband who was in on it, messed with her head all week long.  He dropped hints that she would be doing a 5K race, which was not an absurd idea as our group sometimes does those, but not for birthday celebrations, of course.  With the destination still unbeknownst to the birthday girl, two of the ladies picked her up and drove to the farm.  Our first car ride together since the pandemic was a treat, allowing us to have a nice conversation.  The three of us, who are all fully vaccinated, wore masks and had the car windows open during the drive.  As soon as we made the turn to the farm, the “Goat Yoga” sign revealed itself and the birthday girl bursted out with laughter. She was truly surprised!

The twelve ladies were spread apart in a fenced in area, which kept the eight adorable baby goats in.  We brought our own yoga mats and towels. While the yoga instructor led the class, the staff of the farm kept the goats in check.  The yoga session was low key and relaxing, while the roaming goats provided tons of laughter.  We could do as little or as much yoga as we liked, or just play with the goats.  We all got to cuddle with the goats and have them stand on our backs, which was fun and very soothing.  They gave great back massages.  The goats played favorites, though.  They were keen on few of the ladies and spent most of their time with these ladies throughout the session, which was entertaining to watch.  Needless to say, the goats did have some nature calls and the staff was quick to help clean with paper towels and Lysol wipes.  We all enjoyed ourselves being together and had a fun time with the goats on a beautiful warm spring day.  Overall, it was great success and more importantly, the birthday girl had a blast!