Thursday, July 15, 2010

Latta Plantation and the Raptor Center

The boys and I headed north to Huntersville to enjoy a morning at Latta Plantation and the Raptor Center. When we pulled up to the plantation, we were greeted by a horse running wild with a stump tied to its leg and a big bull chasing him. Not kidding. Apparently, the bull upset the horse and the horse got scared enough to yank the stump out that he was tied to. The boys were quite impressed with the fiasco.


We toured "weally old homes and barns that smell funny," according to Grady Lee. Micah was concerned that the tiny slave homes had a bed in the kitchen. "Why is there a bed by the table, Mom? We go night-night in our bedroom." Ahh, the history lessons we explored. And, I even tied in a little bit of "Many children around the world don't have their own special bedroom and they sleep in the kitchen too. We need to tell Jesus thank you for our very nice home." Ahh, the spiritual lessons we explored.


We stopped at a picnic table for a drink and a snack, and Grady Lee was crazy excited when a chicken wandered up and pecked the ground around him. He really wanted to share his animal crackers, but I suggested it might give the chicken a tummy ache and he better not.


After snacks, we drove down the road to the Raptor Center. Comment: I hate tiny reception rooms where you have to pay and the room is crowded with trinkets and figurines and things to buy - all of which can easily break. I mean seriously, when it's a kid-friendly place, wouldn't you think all that stuff would at least be on a shelf? Waiting for 10 minutes to get stamped to go in was the most stressful part of the day since both boys wanted to touch and feel everything.

Once we were in, we wandered the long trail and enjoyed seeing vultures, owls, hawks, raptors, and eagles. Since birds don't do a whole lot of moving - most were just perched high on a branch - the boys asked me each time if the bird was sleeping or if it was dead. I think that they still had fun though... mostly because they could run in the woods and find cool sticks, not because they were surrounded by amazing birds. Whatever.


After a picnic lunch, we loaded up the car and came home for naps. While putting the boys down, Grady Lee said to me, "We had a berry, berry busy morning, Mom. We saw so many wonderful things. I think I need to rest now and get my energy back." And trust me, when he woke up from his nap, his energy was fully restored. And the destroyed toy room is proof.

3 comments:

  1. You are such a good mom, i love that you take them EVERYWHERE and learn about EVERYTHING!!! :-) so fun!!!

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  2. I love your precious boys & the cute things they say! Looks like a really wonderful outing! And I love how you use every moment as a teaching moment!

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