Like everybody else, cows love to play. Calves romp with each other, of course, but elders also love to have fun. Cow games include racing, chasing, and a kind of head butting game where two cows press their foreheads together and each try to push the other backwards.

Survivors of dairying like Mona above seem to especially enjoy the opportunity to gambol with youngsters. It's heartwarming to see the gentle tenderness with which a cow who was never allowed to keep her own calves will teach the young ones how to roughhouse without being too rough.

Another occasion for bovine gladness is the arrival of a new sanctuary resident. Cows are so welcoming! They always assume that whoever is inside the trailer rumbling up the driveway is going to be a new friend. And a new friend is cause for celebration! It's heartwarming to see a herd of cows running figure eights around the barn, kicking up their heels in glee!

Once, an elder survivor of dairying called Autumn, who was the herd matriarch for many years, was very excited by the arrival of a new cow but was too infirm to gallop around with the others. She solved the problem by dancing a jig with a tree!

By participating in the Veg2Vegan Challenge, you are showing kindness to some of the kindest beings on earth. Remember the good feeling of knowing that whenever you feel tempted by cheese.

Visit VINE Sanctuary on Facebook or Instagram to meet some of the 30+ bovine members of our multispecies community. You can see videos of cows playing at the sanctuary here and here. You can meet the two calves currently romping at the sanctuary here.

If the cows here at the sanctuary knew you were taking the Veg2Vegan Challenge, they would want you to have fun with it. Trying new foods and tasting new flavor combinations, or just new ways of preparing old favorites, can bring variety -- which is the spice of life -- to your diet. So, while we will be giving tips for "veganizing" favorite dishes later this month, today we want to encourage you to try something new! 

Play around with dessert by incorporating nutritious sweet potatoes into brownies. These treats are not only egg-free but also gluten-free and packed with nutrients: Fudgy Sweet Potato Brownies.  

This dessert recipe combines the creaminess of avocados with the richness of dark chocolate and adds a playful twist with chili for a unique and delightful flavor combination: Avocado Chocolate Mousse with Chili. 

Vegan feminist Carol J. Adams is best known for her ground-breaking book The Sexual Politics of Meat, but her book Never Too Late to Go Vegan is a very useful guide to making the shift if you are well into adulthood, with routines and relationships that seem to rely on animal products.