Wandering Wednesday: Back to the Center

The Environmental Center, that is.

For a short hike in between the town poster painting contest and the open house at the fire station. I would share pictures of those events, except that then I would have to blur out the faces of all the people we know who are also in the pictures and that seemed like a lot of effort when I have pictures like this:

This is the kind of stuff we hide far away from our turnpikes and interstates so that more people don't move here.

The kids had a blast. Of course, it helped that there were some geocaches there.

Getting ready to start the search. 

That's a fox in the cage behind them. 

There must be a silly pose. 

But I like the pensive ones better. 

See?

This way my kids can't complain that we're never in the pictures, which is what I say to my parents all the time. 

More searching for clues. 

Hugmonkey was "mining" in the dirt. Thanks, Minecraft. 

Wandering Wednesday: The Wildlife Center

The other day, Hugmonkey and I had some free time. It was a beautiful day, but we were already planning on going to the playground that afternoon, so I tried to think of something else. I decided to try the local wildlife center, which I hadn't been to in years. I had taken Lovebug and Ironflower when they were small, but at that time, the main walking area was also the paved parking/driving area and that wasn't exactly convenient with two toddlers. But I figured Hugmonkey might at least enjoy the indoor exhibits - plus managing one almost-five year old would be considerably easier.

But after hitting the indoor exhibits (which aren't all that impressive if your kid is a Bronx Zoo veteran like Hugmonkey), we discovered that they've added a lot of walking trails. 

First there was a boardwalk leading to an observation deck. 

That's the center across the pond. Hugmonkey loved the observation deck and wants to have a picnic there next time. 

Then we discovered hiking trails. 

With cool Hugmonkey-sized bridges. 

It was so peaceful. We didn't hike the whole trail (we didn't have enough free time, as usual) but we will be bringing the whole family back soon. 

Hugmonkey really wanted his picture taken while standing on this rock, so of course I obliged. The trail was really easy and great for little kids. 

The center also has some peacock residents. They absolutely refused to fan their feathers for photos, though.