A Father's Day Hike

We celebrated Father's Day this year by heading to the woods for a hike. Thinking that Drake would enjoy running some of that two year old energy off, we optimistically chose a hike we have done before and remembered as not too steep. While not too difficult, I think our memories are beginning to fade; at least I can blame pregnancy brain.

As we got our of the car at the trail head, our plans of Drake running and hiking on his own were quickly dashed as he told us he would be riding in the backpack and not walking. Much to David's dismay, he acted as a Sherpa and carried Drake on his back until we got to a steep hill down to the river. Drake walked that portion, jumped over logs, and marveled at the bugs that he saw along the way. He actually did amazingly well given the terrain that we were asking him to climb.

Once at the river, Drake snacked and talked about all of the sharks and whales that he could see in the water. While David and I did not witness the marine animals that Drake was able to see, we did see a number of rafters and kayakers on the water.

If you look closely, the shirt that Drake has on says "David" on the back. This was actually David's shirt from when he was little. He thinks he wore it when he was five (hence the "5"), although David was a big kid also. I just can't imagine Drake at two is the same size as David at five.

On the hike out, Drake had no interest in riding in the backpack. He wanted us to carry him on our hip, but that was not happening for long. He walked some, I convinced him to ride in the backpack some (by bribing him with a snack), and we carried him some. The day capped off with a lobster dinner, which Drake was interested in looking at and wanted me to pet, but had no interest in touch (or eating) himself. Other than the six ticks that David found on his person, I think it was a great Father's Day.

The Timeout Tree

Drake has decided that it is important for me to have a timeout tree. The timeout tree is where Drake puts me when he wants to be allowed the freedom to explore the contents of the quanze hut shed; a place he knows he is not allowed to go.

When he decides to put me in timeout, he simply tells me "timeout Mamma" and walks me to the tree (slightly pushing me form behind). Once at the tree, he directs me where to stand and puts my back against the tree. He then places my hands in my lap and crosses then, just like we do with him when he is put in timeout. Drake then cautiously make his way back to the shed, occasionally looking back at me, pointing and saying, "no, Mamma, timeout".

My timeouts often continue for a couple cycles because, he really cannot be in the shed, so I take myself out of timeout to remove him from the shed. One interesting thing is that he has not figured out to turn my back to the shed or put me on the other side of the tree. The silly boys gives me a clean slight line to his mischief. At least we know that he is understanding that when you are in timeout, you are not allowed to do anything.

Lions and Tigers and Bears and Beetles and...

Drake has always loved animals. He enjoys looking at pictures of animals, pointing out animals, making animal noises, and looking at live animals. What two year old (any a person of any age for that matter) knows the sound that a zebra or a hippo make? Drake does...there's an app for that. We have spent a lot of our time over the last month and a half visiting various nature institutes. I have counted that, in his short life, Drake has now been to six zoos, one aquarium, one insectarium, and one animal theme park (Disney's Animal Kingdom). That is quite an extensive collection of animal based nature institutes for a 2 year old!

We are members of the Greenville Zoo, so that is a standard zoo experience for us. If we are running errands in Greenville, we will often just stop by the zoo first. It is very small and takes Drake's little legs just 45 minutes to walk through. Our zoo membership does grant us reciprocity (typically 50% off) at many zoos all around the country, which is a nice perk. The other animal homes we have visited recently are:

Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC:
Drake was going to stay with David's parents for the week andColumbia is about the halfway point for us to meet. Since I have been wanting to take him to Riverbanks for a while, this seemed like the perfect opportunity. It was nice going to a larger zoo that had animals different than what we see in Greenville. Drake was especially fond of the howler monkeys, penguins, and play fighting bears.

Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium in New Orleans, LA:
Our next stop on the animal train was the Insectarium while Drake and I went in New Orleans for a quick weekend visit with my parents. We love the Audubon Zoo and the Aquarium is ok, so the only portion of the institute we had remaining to visit with the Insectarium. Drake has been pretty into bugs lately, although he thinks all flying bugs are bees. He really enjoyed looking at the insects and the 4D bug film they offered was a nice surprise. The exhibits were nicely done and he was able to interact with a few insects but overall, I would not say that it was worth the price of admission.

Hollywild Animal Park, Wellford, SC:
Our most recent animal adventure came just this past weekend when we visited Hollywild. This was our second visit to Hollywild, the first being last summer. He was much more interested in the animals this visit and loved to chase the geese, chickens, and peacocks. Many of the animals that live in Hollwild are working animals, either in movies, television, or advertisements. They also have a safari where guests board a bus that takes you our to a very large area where the animals graze (and eat bread from the bus passengers). It was a good, interactive visit.

Our animal adventures will continue...this summer I hope we will visit the North Carolina Zoo, the Atlanta Zoo, and the Atlanta Aquarium.