Duckling Fever

The University's Ag department hosted a "small animals day" last Saturday.

Newborn chicks, pigletts, calfs, colts, ducklings ...

This face says it all!!

Duck ... Pond?

Duck ... pond?

Was NOT expecting to see this as I looked out my kitchen window this morning!

These two guys hung around for several hours

soaking up the sun ...

bobbing for food ...

taking a nap ...

posing for pics ...

Loved this exciting spring suprise.

Fredrick Meijer Gardens

Fredrick Meijer Gardens

(featuring the annual butterfly exhibit)

We kept hearing about the spectacular butterfly exhibit in a nearby town here in Michigan. We took advantage of this georgous spring break day to check it out.

Behind us is the glass house full of plants and swarms of butterflys ...

Loads of blossoms and butterflys ...

Gage and Sunny were entranced ...

The butterflys swarmed over, under, around and through us!

There are two here ...

hard to get them to sit still for a pic ...

This is the station set up for hatching ...

The cocoons are shipped in from all over the world for the exhibit!

A beautiful swallow tail that has just emmerged ...

The orange ones were sooo vibrant ...

Sitting on a bench by the waterfall and pond ...

Wishing he were outside??

Trust me little guy ... springtime in Michigan

is better spent indoors (when you're a butterfly).

Outside in the children's garden ... sculptures EVERYWHERE!

Gage liked these people made out of letters ...

We were all mega impressed at the GIANT stallion weighing in at 7.5 tons!

Loved this hands on park ...

loved the smiles ...

loved this spring Michigan day!

Cardinals and Leprechauns ...

Cardinals and Leprechauns

(and a little bit of reincarnation)

Gage recently told me that if he gets to choose to
come back to life as an animal he's going to be a bird ...

.... to live in a tree
in Michigan.

Perhaps he'll choose to be a cardinal ...

who flies from our fence ...

to drink from our pool ...


Good choice Gage.

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When you see red cardinals its time to look for green leprechauns.

Gage built the elaborate trap this year

(way advanced over last year's bucket/stick/string model).

The unsuspecting little man is to enter the trap through the "entrance to houes" hole ... look around inside at all the fancy rooms and then ...

... get stuck in the sticky "tape trap" back door. Ooh, Gage, good plan ... but it didn't account for a potential pocket knife in the little guy's green overalls. Must have been a leprechaun with some "be prepared" type boy scout training.

Maybe next year?