In a happy twist of August Indiana weather it was a blissful 73 degrees outside yesterday so my first inclination turned towards taking the kids to the State Fair. The youngest was easily tempted over to my side with the phrase, "they have food..." but the eldest was unconvinced as revealed by her response of "I hate the state fair. I always have hated the state fair and I always will. *sigh* Fine. Given that attitude and with the debacle of the previous year in mind (in which we spent $37 for a 20-minute visit) a compromise was in order.
The eldest's counter-suggestion was that we go to the Children's Museum on the principle that it was "too hot to be outside." Commentary on the decadent American lifestyle that leads to such beliefs aside, we instead headed out to West Park.
Izzy, who upon arriving at the park observed that there was clearly no food, was indignant and charged off as quickly and as obviously annoyed as it is possible to do at her age. I suppose she should have growled at us but she made her disgruntlement clear enough without such guttural utterances.
We quickly managed to bring the indignant Izzy around by pointing out the abundance of testudine (turtle) wildlife. Only moments before in the car she'd been discussing strategies by which she might wrangle herself into having a turtle as a pet.
Amanda, however, was still unconvinced. The temperature had skyrocketed to the header figure of 74 degrees.
A walnut or two found under a pine tree never hurts one's attitude either, it seems.
I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I stood in this area for a couple of minutes before noticing this heron fishing for its breakfast. Generally when you see them they seem to be just placidly walking along as if they have nothing much better to do but this one was actively taking advantage of the large number of small fish in the pond.
I also have to give the park a lot of credit. They appear to be cultivating several native species that you don't find in most public areas. I believe this is Prairie Dock if I recall correctly.
And no summer trip would be complete without a dragonfly.
1 comment:
The heron.... BEAUTIFUL!
And I love the little turtle... they still freak me out... but it's a georgous picture!
Very nice!
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