Buffalos Eat Snacks.

Greg's parents were here visiting with us this week.  We decided to take them out to our favorite get-away spot and drove over to Elk Island.

It was a bit chillier than normal but the kids didn't seem to mind.  Come on.  Isn't this beautiful?!

We took their bikes with us this time which we've never done before.  Boy, they LOVED riding down the trail.  Gavin struggled riding through the leaves so he kept getting off and on his bike and asking somebody to carry it for him.  It was fun and cute to watch them on their bikes.  The girls would ride on ahead and then turn around and come back when they got too far ahead.

We were glad that they kept coming back to check in because I was worried that they'd run into a buffalo on their way.  Little did I know I would be right on the way back.


We were stranded on the path.  He was just sitting there having a snack and wouldn't budge even when we tried to scare him off.  So I strapped the baby on in the baby carrier and Grandpa had us all bush whack down the ravine and then our plan was to go around the bison.  Unfortunately we were right where he was on the path, he finally got scared and he bounded down into the ravine where we were but luckily it was just behind us.  Nothing like a near death experience to get your blood pumping!

Once we made it back to the car, we were able to do some more investigations about what had happened.  Tati was the first one to get to the buffalo.  She said, "I saw him so I stopped."  Then she rode back and told Chloe to stop.  Then they waited for Grandma and Grandpa to catch up and then us.  (We were way behind due to a grasshopper incident with lots of tears.)  We were so proud of Tati that she stopped and handled the situation safely and without freaking out.  She said she just remembered what we had told them the very first time we went to Elk Island that if you see a buffalo, just stop and slowly walk backwards away from it.  I'm just so grateful that she didn't try and pet it or say "hi" because those are both things I would expect from her.  **Disclaimer:  He looks smaller here than in real life but he is a young male.  We figured that made him more dangerous than normal.**

We made a fire this time.  Most times we've gone it has been too hot to even have a desire to make a fire so we planned this time to roast some hot dogs and also to roast some marshmallows and make smores.  It was really fun and the kids LOVED it!  Both Tati and Gavin surprised us by how well they listened to the fire safety rules and how well they roasted their marshmallows--turning and toasting it.

As we were roasting marshmallows and hot dogs, we heard a bunch of "squaking" like crazy.  We looked up and saw a bunch of birds that we'd never seen before.  We couldn't believe how enormous they were and how noisy they were.  Big, and white.  It finally hit us and we remembered one time when we were there and ran into a bunch of bird watchers with awesome cameras.  They were super excited because they had seen some trumpeter swans.  That's what they were.  Chloe was reading that book by E.B. White when we were there so it was kind of a big thrill to hear the bird peeps talking about seeing them in real life.  She kept looking along the lakeside for them.  Never did see them then.  So she was really pumped to be able to see them this time.  Evidently they are endangered.

Ok so back to the grasshopper incident.  Gavin found a grasshopper and wanted to take it home but having a grasshopper required that he use both his hands to keep it from hopping away (poor thing).  He also wanted to ride his bike.  So I suggested he either ride in the stroller and hold the grasshopper or that the grasshopper ride in the hood of his sweatshirt as he rode his bike. He initially chose to have the grasshopper ride in his hood then the decided he was too tired to ride his bike so wanted to ride in the stroller.  That just required us to get the grasshopper out of his hood.  That's when we noticed it had lost a leg.  Poor thing.  But Gavin refused to let him go.  He said, "He's ok Mommy.  His leg is not hurting."  This pic in before he lost his limb in nam.  No disrespect to those who have actually been to nam.

He just fell right in love with that thing. Speaking of falling in love.  How cute is Gavin here?

Oliver just mostly sad around looking cute or enjoyed people holding him.  It's hard to put him down sometimes because he is so cozy and happy and he makes you feel happy.

As we were heading back to the car and recounting our adventurous day at the park, Greg and Gavin had the following conversation:

Greg:   "Gavin, do you know what buffalos eat?"
Gavin: "Yeah."
Greg:    "What do they eat?"
Gavin:  "Snacks."