Ogden Nature Center

Today we went to the Ogden Nature Center. When I woke up this morning I just thought I'd be making pancakes and doing laundry and house work today. But when Dallas got up (before 9 am) plans changed. Since it was overcast we thought going outside would be fun. We threw around the idea of going up the canyon to Pine View Reservoir and going on a little hike on a trail near there, but the thought of carrying Peanut in our Snuggli in the heat was not very appealing. I had remembered that I wanted to take the girls to the Ogden Nature Center a while back and revisited the idea. I'm so glad we did. I haven't been there since I was in elementary school and boy has it changed. I love being outdoors, but only if it's not 1000 degrees. It was very entertaining just walking to the visitor center. There are several birdhouses on display and some of them are very cute. Once we made it to the visitor center we found out the it is free on Saturdays all summer long, *bonus*. That saved us $10!! Which we later spent on toys in the gift shop, but none the less. After seeing some of the displays in the visitor center, one of which was a sweet little owl named Gidget. I could have taken her home, she was so cute and cuddly looking. Notice how I say looking, who knows how sweet she would be if actually held.
We then went out to the Birds of Prey enclosers. We saw a Raven, Great horned owl, Golden eagle, Bald eagle (my personal fav), a Pelican and some others who had weird names that I cannot remember. After our little walk through the enclosers we went to a little covered area where a nice lady was doing a "Things that Grow" project. This was actually pretty clever and very fun for Punkin. It consisted of a old nylon (the toe part I imagine), potting soil, grass seed, googly eyes and a pipe cleaner. They filled the nylon with the soil, planted some seeds, tied the open end glued on some eyes and mouth, and there you have it, a Grass Head. The cheap chia pet. It's now perched in my kitchen window sill in all it's glory.
If you want to see pictures, they will follow in a slide show, but don't stop reading or you will miss the very exciting turkey story.
After making the Grass Head, we decided to have lunch. We went back through the bird houses to the car to get our lunch that we packed for a picnic. When we were coming back onto the grounds we saw three wild turkeys run past the visitor center. That was kind of a sight to see, they were so big and didn't seem to mind all the people. We then found a nice spot on a cute little red picnic table to enjoy our lunch. Then around the corner they came, the turkeys. *Duhm, duhm, duhm*. At first they just kinda watched us then they got closer, then my genius husband threw them a chip. A decision he quickly regretted. Now they are at the table, keep in mind these things are as big as my three year old. I clapped, hissed, yelled, and they wouldn't back off. I had to actually herd them away, far away, before they actually stayed away. I'm not super afraid of animals but birds, that big, with beaks that sharp, eye level with my children, crazy protective mom mode kicks in. We finished our lunch and continued with our day.
We then happened upon the encloser for a desert turtle who was also eating his lunch. Then we took a little walk along the Habitat trail and to the Tadpole pond. The tadpole pond was yes full of tadpoles but the water was horribly low and covered with nasty algae. After the little jaunt we decided to call it a day. We had a great time on little to no money.
There, a long post but worth it, right? Thanks for reading my long winded story.