The Many Delights in the Life of Desirée: April 2014

Last weekend, we headed down to Beacon Hill park to check out the children's petting zoo. We got there right after it opened and were wandering around when we noticed that everyone was lining up on the sides of the walkways. We thought maybe that was the line up to go pet the goats. Luckily for us, I asked someone what the deal was. Each morning when the zoo opens, they have all the people line up on the sides and cheer as the goats run down the walkway from the barn to their pen. We would have been trampled by goats. :) They're just little so we probably would've been ok.

So, we saw the piglet, lots of peacocks (p.s. Did you know that a female is called a "peafowl"? Horrible name), the alpacas, Donny and Osmond, the miniature horse, the guinea pigs, sheep, ducks, chickens, turkeys, goats and Oakley's favourite, the bunnies. He wandered around the whole zoo but would always come back to the bunnies. Also, since his horse bite back in October, he's had a rough time with most animals up close. This makes for an interesting time at petting zoos. He likes the animals but get them close and he freaks out.

At this petting zoo, the only animals you were supposed to touch were the pygmy goats. They had brushes for you to brush them and they were really sweet. There were quite a few little ones and they would climb up on people's backs if they sat down or bent over for an extended time. Oakley thought that was so funny. The first time we went into the pen, he reacted just the way I expected. A little intrigued but he'd pull away or cling on to a leg if any of them got too close. He liked looking at the three week old baby goats sleeping in their stall but that was about it. Matt and I decided we'd take a break and try again later. So glad we did. He was still a little apprehensive but actually brushed two goats and wandered around the pen without being glued to a parent's leg. Baby steps.

After the zoo, we went to the playground. There was a little metal car with two steering wheels and a back seat that Oakley loved playing on. There were many tears and kicking legs when it was time to go home.

"Bunnies!"

This expression says it all

He's irresistible!

Handsome fellas

He climbed all over this thing!

So, that was the zoo. Next adventure was Mount Douglas. We cheated and drove almost to the summit and then walked the last little bit to the second highest point. We didn't go to the summit because the side we went to had a nicer view of the ocean...maybe. I like to think so anyway. It was crazy windy at the top and both boys ended up crying so I started down with both of them while Matt took some photos. Picture this - two crying kiddos, crazy wind, rocky terrain and mom in flip flops. Yeesh. It was an adventure but we made it down with only a little damage to my feet. For our hike down by the beach, I remembered to put my runners on.

It was a nice beach but again, very windy and I'm a wimp. I told Matt that if it hadn't have been for that gorgeous day at the beach a few weekends ago, I would not believe that the beaches are ever not windy. Since I was cold from the wind blasting through every layer I was wearing, we headed back up to the parking lot to explore more of the forest. They had some of the coolest trees I have ever seen! They were all hollowed out at the base so there was a little nook inside the trunk of the tree that you could climb in. And we're talking big! As in Matt could stand in them. Awesome. Oakley thought it was so fun to be up in the tree. He kept saying "Hiding" while he was inside. :) We also hit up the park they had there. We definitely have more exploring to do there...

Beautiful little wildflowers at the top of Mt Doug

I was FREEZING. (I am well aware that I will probably be getting lots of angry comments from my Albertan readers. Sorry guys, but that's how it was. )

Awesome tree #1

Happy happy

Awesome tree #2

Peeking

This is the only one of these springy things that holds an adult. It was lots of fun. :)

Sunday, we returned to Bear Hill regional park. There happens to be a trailhead closer to our house than the first one we went to so we wanted to try it out. It was a way faster hike! The trailhead starts higher up and the climb is a lot steeper. We only hike 5-10 minutes and we were in sight of the top. Crazy. Definitely good for just a quick little jaunt into the forest. There were these sweet little white flowers growing all around beside the trail that reminded me of little fairies. Have I mentioned that I love all the beautiful sights to see over here?

See? A little fairy flower.

To continue on on our marvelous weekend last weekend, Sunday we headed off to McKenzie Bight in Gowlland Tod Provincial park. We have made a goal to go on a family walk as part of our Sabbath day observances. What a good goal it has been. So off we went down the path. There was a little stream that ran just off the path for the majority of our walk. It was a bubbly, cutesy stream and every once and a while, we'd stop and show Oakley a little waterfall or the water going over branches that had fallen into its path. We didn't know how long it would take us to reach the bight so we decided to head back at six. We stopped about half an hour into it to have a snack and it was about ten to six. After checking the GPS location, Matt figured we were about 5/6ths of the way there so we continued on. Good thing we did because the beach was just down a hill and around the corner from our rest stop. When I stepped out of the trees and onto the beach, I was in awe. This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The pictures don't do it justice. The water was so calm and there was a perfect peace there. Very appropriate activity for Sunday. :) We climbed up onto this rock that was jutting out of the water and watched the ducks swimming. Oakley threw rocks, Matt skipped rocks, Emmett napped and I looked for seashells. I definitely want to make this hike a regular occurrence. Beautiful.