Happy Birthday Columbus

We celebrate every one's birthday in our house, and Christopher Columbus is no exception. ;0) Because Sarah Grace had Monday off from school for Columbus Day we decided to go somewhere and make it a special day. So, we called the Gadds and planned a day at the Game Ranch. Krista and I packed up the girls and headed to see the animals. It was a beautiful day, warm and breezy.

We got there and were greeted by 5 of the tiniest little deer. They were days to maybe a couple of weeks old. They loved peanuts! They, like all the animals, eat right our of your hand. One of them, the tiniest, had a broken leg but it hopped right up the the gate for his share the peanuts. All four girls took an immediate interest in feeding and petting the animals. Well, Charlotte didn't want to feed any of them but she did pet the deer and bunnies. And she wasn't frightened when a greedy squirrel climbed on her leg looking for a nut.

After the deer was the bunny farm. It was a huge gated area you could go in and play with bunnies. The girls loved it, especially Claire. She thought it was so funny. She'd touch one and then do her bouncy dance and squeal. The big girls liked that the rabbits came up to you (looking for treats). There were rocks for them to hind under (and the girls to climb on) and lots of bunny holes with babies peeking out. Come to think of it, all the animals had babies. You would've thought it was Spring time.

On our way to the petting farm we passed fox, coyotes, bobcat, bison, peacocks, raccoons (running in a giant hamster wheel), cougars, porcupine, and ducks. If you remember, this is the same place we sent Abby and Emmy, our Easter ducks to. We found a group of ducks like them, and they were huge and noisy, which just reaffirmed our decision to send them away. As we walked around we took breaks to feed the deer (which roam free and walk right up to you), chipmunks and squirrels. There was one squirrel that followed along behind the stroller for a while, and when we'd stop he'd run up to one of us and look for who had the nuts. He'd take the nut with one hand and hold onto your finger with the other. Some of the deer were snobbish toward nuts. They were looking for variety. They preferred veggies.

We finally got around to the petting farm. There were pigs, sheep, donkeys, and goats. And they all wanted your attention. The donkeys kicked at the gates making noise to get treats. The goats and sheep would stick their heads through the fence and nip at you until you gave them nuts or grass. But the funniest thing was the donkey that only wanted your attention if you had food. We were out of nuts and I was petting this donkey and after a few seconds he realized I had nothing to give him and he let me have it! I'm pretty sure I was cussed at in donkey. He rared his head back and then stuck his face in mine and started SCREAMING!! It was hilarious and drew quite a crowd. It was so loud and went on for at least a minute and he was looking right at me the whole time. We laughed so hard. And that pretty much ended our day, with one more stop by the baby deer as we left. :)