Monday, May 19, 2008

Animal Adventure

On Saturday we decided to keep our fun family weekend going and take the boys to the Meijer Gardens. A few weeks back I posted about the Butterfly exhibit there that we went to with Noah's class. Since Steve couldn't go, we decided to go as a family since our Children's museum membership has dual membership just for the month of May.

We have been there many times, but this time we actually LOOKED at the statues instead of beelining straight for the children's garden. The boys actually enjoyed looking at the statues and both wanted to go hunting for pennies in the fountain.














In the children's garden, Aaron wanted to play in the water...



















while Steve and Noah went to dig for dinosuar fossils.














Then we discovered a path that I didn't even know was there and decided to take a walk. I am so happy I have become more lax about Aaron riding in a stroller. We never would have survived otherwise.

After walking for a little while, I noticed we were coming up to some water. We ended up walking right along a somewhat large lake and when we stopped to look at the water, I said"I bet if we wait long enough, we'll see a turtle." So we all waited...

and waited...



















and waited.



















Then, Daddy spotted it sitting on the end of a branch in the water.














After watching it for awhile we stopped a little further to look for another turtle. A BEAVER was hiding under a dam right out where we could see it. Later, a muscrat was swimming right near where we were crossing.

A little while later, while we were stopped to see yet another turtle, another passerby saw a huge green frog hiding in the water. It was fun to watch, even though neither of the boys could see it until I took a picture of it and then enlarged it on my viewer.



Can you see it?












Continuing along, we then found geese sitting on their eggs...















and a final turtle.














I know this seems a bit trivial, but I am not usually the most fun person to take a nature hike with. I don't like being sweaty and the bees are usually attracted to me above anyone else. So for me to have enjoyed this adventure was indeed momentous for Steve.

I even found myself taking pictures of pretty flowers along the way.














How girly is that?

11 comments:

Melissa said...

Looks like a great place. Great photos too. And yep, I saw the frog, very cool!!

Dad of Divas said...

What a wonderfl day for the whole family...I can only wish it was warm enough for short sleeves and playing in water over here across the pond... it is getting warmer but definitely not what it is where you are! Thanks for sharing your day with us!

Deb said...

You know, other than the butterflies a couple of times, we've never taken the girls to Meijer Gardens. One of these days we'll have to rectify that. :)

Love the nature pictures - especially the flowers! :)

Maude Lynn said...

I saw the frog!

www.frogparenting.blogspot.com said...

These type of posts are
WHY i read and blog myself!

Awesome!

Jenny said...

What a great day! I just love posts like this. I love the photos, the family time...everything.

I'm really glad you were able to enjoy it and the bees didn't bother you. Isn't that the worst? I don't like them either.

Blessings!

Shannon @ Gabi's World said...

It's funny that you mentioned the sweating thing because as I was reading it, I was thinking "Oh good I get to enjoy it without sweating." No sooner did I think that I read that part about it where you mentioned it!

bethn said...

Oh no you're turning into a girl! I"m glad you had a great day and enjoyed the nature preserve. THe pictures were fabulous!

Debbie @ Three Weddings said...

It looks like you all had a great time! I bet the boys really enjoyed seeing all those animals.

Becky said...

Loved this post!

That sounds like a wonderful place to visit. My boys would have enjoyed that place, too. The hidden frog photo was great!

Hey, a mom has to get girly every so often, especially with a house full of boys, lol.

Lindy said...

What a fun hike! That looks like a fabulous park for kiddos :)