Week 12

On Saturday, Derek had planned a Family Fun Day for us.  We left the house by 9 am and drove south two hours to the National Eagle Center.  There was a special event that day with a variety of birds. 

We saw owls, hawks, a buzzard and an eagle.  Two or three birds were trained to fly directly over the heads of the audience.  The first time, we all ducked pretty bad.  But the buzzard was probably only a good 6 inches above our heads!  The birds probably flew over our heads a good three or four times.  I wish I would've thought to video it with my phone!  It was crazy close. 

Here he comes!

After the show, we ate lunch and checked out the Eagle Center.  There were lots of cool exhibits that the kids enjoyed.  We were there on a good day because there were crafts for the kids too.  There was a traveling reptile exhibit and the kids got to pet an albino Burmese Python.

There are five resident eagles at the center.  Of course, the kids wouldn't pose together in front of the bald eagles.  (Which according to Punky, is the national bird of the entire state!)  But I did get a photo of them separately by the golden eagle.  Ugh.

There was also a reptile and amphibian show with this crazy guy from Wisconsin.  The kids got to see and touch turtles, tortoises, snakes and frogs.  This guy was coo-coo but the kids were very entertained!

We spent the majority of the day at the Eagle Center, but stopped by a giant toy store on our way home.  There was something for everyone here- a dress-up room, arts and crafts room, book room, etc.  There were even two rooms filled with Schleich toys.  One for animals and one for dinosaurs.  Buddy went up and down the shelves repeating:  This for Christmas, this pretend for Christmas, this for Christmas, this pretend for Christmas...  which is his weird little ritual he's had the last few months anytime he sees an animal on TV, in a book, etc.  It's a little OCD/weird because he has to do it every single time, but we are starting to live with it.  

On our way home, we were miles away from the Olson's house, so I quick texted to see if we could pop over and say Hi.  We did, ended up staying for supper and leaving close to 9pm.  I am thankful we have such good friends who we feel comfortable enough with to stop by with 20 minutes notice!  It was a long day, but a much needed day together as a family!