Thirty Eighth Weekend

I just realized that my weekend titles are not consistent. I should probably go back and fix them, or it will permanently drive me nuts whenever I look back at the book of our adventure.

This weekend turned out to be absolutely perfect weather! We considered surprising the kids with a trip to Legoland, but got a late start and opted not to. It was quite cool in the morning, and we worried it wouldn't be fun if the weather didn't warm up. Instead, we stayed closer to home and went to visit the Glad Zoo, about 4 miles away. It was a little zoo, sort of like a hobby farm that was trying to become a zoo. The kids had a really great time there!

There were several goats, new and old, in a petting zoo area. The kids didn't ask to go in, so we just looked as we went by. There were also several rats that called that area home.

 I liked the non-formality of the place. This wooden bridge crossed over a small pond, and in the middle of that pond was a house where the geese lived.

 I don't recall seeing geese like this very often, but it looks just like the ones you see in old Mother Goose rhymes. They were quite noisy too!

 Also over this pond was an enclosed bridge, so the monkeys could get to the taller trees in the center island, and also back into their pen.

 There were several types of ostrich relatives, along with chickens and roosters.

 One of the unexpected highlights of the outing was discovering four friends at the playground! The boys had a really fun time playing with their school friends.

 Jeff also thought the slides looked like fun.

 Svea's favourite animals were the potbellied pigs. There were two separate areas of them; one housed a mama pig and her several piglets and the daddy pig, and the other housed some older ones -maybe they were last year's piglets.

 These ones came right up to the edge of the fence and Svea thought that was so fun. She talked to them a lot!

 Daddy pig was quite sleepy. And huge. He filled up the whole house.

 Near the back of the zoo park, there was a large inflated bump, specifically made for jumping and sliding. This may have been the boys' favourite part of the trip.

 I don't recall how many camels I've seen in zoos over the years; not many. But this was a HUGE camel! I was trying to take a picture over the top of the fence, so I only got the top half of his body. But even when he was far away on the other side of the field he looked massive.

 There were a couple of baby donkeys too, resting and relaxing in the sun.

 Here the boys and their friend are examining a pair of small owls, and discussing the fact that there were a dozen or so dead baby chicks in the bottom of the cage. Real life, I guess.

 As we got to the end of the zoo, we found another playground. The kids all had a fun time playing in the sandboxes, playhouses, and swings.

It was a fun way to spend an afternoon during a long weekend. The weather has been trying to get nice for a while now, and it seems that this was the entry into spring perfection. We know how fast the remaining days we have here are going to go, so we are doing our best to enjoy each one. Hopefully I will be better about writing about them, so we don't forget!