Baby Animal Days

April 9 - One of our favorite yearly traditions is to go to Baby Animal Days each Spring. The kids love it and have so much fun there every year! This year we almost didn't make it. There was SO much snow we thought about not going, but the kids were so disappointed, we decided to give it a try. Luckily, since it had been such bad weather the whole weekend, they were prepared and had moved most things inside. It was still cold and VERY muddy, but we had a great time and I am glad that we braved the cold and held onto our fun Spring tradition. I do think that is is funny that this is our Spring Break and we are dressed in coats, hats, boots and gloves! Or maybe not funny....maybe cruel!!!
And just a warning - This was my first outing with my camera, so I took a TON of pictures. They are not fabulous, but so much better than my last camera, so I love them. I narrowed it WAY down, but there are still a LOT!
First up was the baby ducks and chicks, which they had thankfully moved inside! It was right where you purchased tickets, so it was a bit of a mad house, but it was nice and cozy! I wish you could see Rylee's eyes in this picture, but I love that face! I thought she would be loving it this year, but she was a little nervous at first. Rylee getting a little more confident!
Logan peeking at the chick. Logan LOVES baby animals and is so funny! He is always talking to them in this sweet, high little voice. I always feel like I should buy him a pet after we go to this because he loves them so much!
Avery checking it out from a distance...
Daring to get a little closer....she really wasn't sure what to think.
Ry and her chick. I think she is liking it now!
Logan's turn - Isn't he the sweetest boy?
Miss Avery just looking cute
Avery checking out her new little chick friend...
And he gets a kiss!
Logan holding the chick
I love this face Rylee is pulling for her duck.
Logan in heaven holding his duck.

Avery was getting a little more brave when we moved onto the duck...
I love her SURPRISED Face! She is always making it and it never fails to make me laugh!
She for some reason was fascinated with the duck's beak and couldn't leave it alone! It kind of snapped at her a little, but she still kept grabbing it.
Avery watching all the ducks and chicks in their little box. I think she just about decided to climb inside!


This is my favorite picture from the day!
Avery kept begging to sit in the saddle and then she would NOT get off! Too bad there were no pony rides this year. This baby would have LOVED that!
After we held the ducks, we got some ice cream (hot chocolate would have been MUCH more appropriate, but that is what they had...) and then headed out into the snow!

Avery loves to be outside. She didn't even mind that it was SO cold! Keeping her out of the mud was a bit of a challenge!
Since it was so snowy and muddy, they had wagon rides to get to the other part of the farm where the other animals were. Thank goodness because it was SO gross to walk in! Here are Daddy and Logan enjoying the ride!
Mommy and the girls on the wagon ride
Next, was a big barn filled with baby sheep, goats, cows and pigs and maybe a horse. Avery was so excited! She really liked all the animals and wanted to touch them all. Usually all these animals are outside and you can get right in the little pens with them, but this year you could mostly just look and pet them through the fence if they were close enough, so there wasn't much touching, but she had fun looking.
Peeking into the fence.
Avery showing Daddy
I love those eyes!
An attempt at a picture of all 3...not a very good attempt though.
She was ready to climb right in with those animals! She climbed the fences over and over again! She is a bit of a crazy child. The kids also got to make these funny colored rocks that they could scratch their names on and they had crickets to sample. The kids wouldn't eat one, but they were flavored and the girl said they tasted like a potato chip, so Daddy tried a Salt and Vinegar flavored one. He said it wasn't awful, but definitely NOT like a potato chip! The kids were loving that Daddy ate a cricket! At the end of this barn, they had the baby bears from Bear World. They were so cute! I don't know where the picture is.... They were really fun to watch!
Next, was the bunnies! This was the kids' favorite!
Rylee and her bunny!
This is my other favorite picture
Avery just looking cute!
Avery petting a bunny
A few more bunny pictures...


Next, it was the TINY turtles! I LOVE these! They are so cute! I always want to take one home with me, but they are only for people with a teacher's license to purchase because they are only for educational purposes. The kids were in love with them, too.
Avery trying to get a closer look...
After the baby turtles, we were ready to head home. Baby Animal days always brings me severe Mom guilt for not having a pet for my kids and every year I see how much my kids love the animals and try and tell Darren we should buy a bunny or a chick or a goat or SOMETHING! But, then I remember that I think BABY animals are cute, but not really BIG animals.... and I hate to clean up after animals and I hate the way they smell and where would we keep them... and I talk myself out of it. This year, we came home with a pet. Actually, 2 pets. We got some cute little African Dwarf frogs. The kids love them! We named them Batman and Tiana thanks to Logan and Rylee. They are very low maintenance, which is my kind of pet!
After our wagon ride back. Ready to go home and Avery is smiling because she has a sucker - her favorite!
Daddy and A
All tuckered out - Rylee crashed after about 5 minutes in the car. But, not before she made us make a mad dash back INTO baby animal days so she could use the bathroom. Sometimes being potty trained is so stressful!

Thanks for another fabulous day, Baby Animal Days! Oh...and thanks for salmonella! We just found out the other day when the health department called that there has been an outbreak for salmonella linked to African Dwarf Frogs!!! Maybe those pets weren't such a good idea...

Baby Animal Days

One of my favorite things of living in Cache Valley is all the fun little family activities that go on all the time here. My favorite Spring activity is Baby Animal Days at the Heritage Center. It was the weekend of Easter (YES! I am REALLY that far behind! My goal for June is to catch up the blog, but we'll see if that happens.) and we had a great time and got some of our family to join us - Curt and Carla and Matt and Mandy and their kids all came up. It was pretty rainy all weekend, except the day we went, so that day was VERY crowded and the lines for everything were really long, but we still loved it! We had SO much fun and the kids loved being able to pet and hold so many little baby animals! Here are some of our many pictures of our fun day!

All ready for a day of baby animals!My cute Rylee! Her bows are bigger than her head, but I thought they were fun!Rylee and Daddy waiting to see the baby turtlesRylee ready to hold the baby turtle. These were my FAVORITE! They were SO tiny and cute - They fit inside Rylee's hand! - I wanted to take them home, but you have to have a teaching license because they are only for educational purposes! Rylee was pretty excited to hold the turtle, until it was in her hand and then she didn't like it much. I think its little feet on her hands creeped her out - She almost dropped the poor thing!Last year, Logan was terrified of the turtles for some reason, but he was really excited to hold them this time and did great! I think Rylee liked the turtles better from a distance...She doesn't want to touch it!After the turtles, we got a yummy snack and then headed to see the goats and the sheep. Logan was in HEAVEN! I could hardly keep track of him because he was from one animal to the next and loved them all.

He gets SO close to all the animals and talks to them in this sweet little baby voice. He is such a funny kid!

I finally got him to look away from the goat for a second for a picture!

Rylee was pretty cautious at first. She would touch a goat with one finger, and then back away to see if it was OK. By the time we were done, she was getting a little more brave, but still not too excited about it. Maybe she is worried about the germs like mommy!I think she felt more comfortable with the ones that were fenced.This is Rylee after she touched a goat. She would touch them with one finger, pull away and then laugh like she was so funny and then try again. Anytime we go anywhere with a map, it becomes an obsession of Logan's and he is always checking it and telling us where to go. I think it is so funny! This is him with his cousin Madi showing him where we are. He gets pretty concentrated!

Next, it was off to see MORE goats and sheep and also some cows and pigs!The kids were pretty excited to pet a REAL baby cow! Rylee and the cow - She is still looking pretty nervous!

The kids petting the baby pigs. They were so cute! The kids were really excited to see them! There were too many kids everywhere so I didn't get great pictures.

Here are Daddy and the kiddies waiting to see the baby ducks and chicks. The line was pretty long for these, but it was worth the wait!Rylee wasn't too patient though, so I had to chase her around a bit and she found a bench she had to sit on! I don't know where that obsession came from but she loves benches and little chairs and things. We finally got to see the baby ducks and they were adorable and the kids loved it! Rylee liked to pet the duck as long as mommy held it for her. She told EVERYONE after when they asked her about baby animal days, "I pet baby duck"Isn't this the sweetest boy ever? He was so happy to hold the little duck and loved him so much! Logan getting up close and personal with his little duck! After seeing this, I was tempted to go and buy the kids some for pets, but Darren reminded me they become BIG ducks!Rylee running around...The baby chicks were cute, too!My niece Madi took some pictures for me while we were holding the chicks, but she couldn't quite get us all in. This is the best one I have of Rylee.Logan loves his baby chick and I think he would have loved to take one home. My two favorite kids!!! The line for the bunnies was SO long so we decided to go for a pony ride instead since we missed out on that the last time. The line was long, but not as long as it had been throughout the day, so we decided to try it and I'm so glad that we did! The kids LOVED it! Here is Rylee watching the ponies - She was pretty excited for her turn. This is them in their helmets ready to ride! I think they were just as excited to wear the helmets as they were to ride the ponies. CHEESE! Does he looke excited or what???Rylee in her helmet - Bring on the ponies!!!Logan's pony was named Sport, so it was a perfect match for him! He was a little nervous when they first put him on the pony, but he did great and loved it after he started going! Doesn't he look like a natural up there?

I love this picture of Logan!Rylee did great, too. She looked SO tiny up there, I was a little nervous to let her do it, but she stayed on! The guy who worked there even had to go over at one point and get her to hold on to the saddle because she was trying to do some trick riding with no hands! My little dare devil!!!What a fun day! When you are this age, does it get any better than a pony ride? I'm so glad we waited so they could try this! We went to visit family that weekend for Easter, both kids LOVED telling everyone that they rode a pony! Rylee was so cute and said "I ride a PONY!" so excitedly with the most expressive face and talking with the hands! It made it totally worth it!!!The kids were POOPED after our busy day! Rylee fell asleep with her little balloon on her wrist. After the Heritage Center, we went to the park with Curt and Carla so Darren and Curt could play some soccer and the kids could play. Then we went to dinner with them. We had a great time! I didn't get any pictures of the cousins all day for some reason that day - I think it was a little too crazy and too many people everywhere - but we loved having them come up to hang out and the kids always love playing with their cousins! We love our family! We will really miss having Curt and Carla close when they move!!! Rylee is becoming very attached to little Rae Rae and they play so cute together.