Tracy Aviary

Way, way, way back in March we went on a little adventure to Tracy Aviary! I hadn't been there in many years (back when it was pretty "dumpy") but when I heard they had spent millions of dollars on some upgrades I thought it was definitely worth checking out! Grandma Deb invited us along with our Utah based Cushing cousins. My Aunt Rochelle came along too....since she is our resident "bird lady." :) We went on the last possible $1 day of the season (FYI: last Wednesday of the month during the off season is only $1!!!) but we got there early enough that it wasn't too crowded. It was a beautiful sunny day - - and even though we started out with jackets, we were shedding them long before we were ready to go. 

Partial group-shot with Grandma, Lilly, Rochelle, Alex, Tyler, Sam, and Jaymie. 

 ...and just to document that Charlie and I were really there, here's our self-portrait!

It just so happens that both Sam and Tyler are really into birds lately. (Sam a little more than Tyler, though). Grandma got Sam a book from the Target dollar section about birds of prey...and he has been studying it for months. It was so fun to watch them practically skip around the Aviary to see all of the different kinds of birds AND to be able to point out some of the birds that they knew from that book. The birds really were beautiful and I had a few geek-moments when I was reading the little plaques out in front of their cages/displays/etc. when I would say (out loud) .... "I didn't know that!!!" 

Cute Grandma Deb with some of her boys.

 A bunch of silly heads taking a breather on some decorative rocks.

I personally liked the Owl Forrest exhibit the best. There is something about owls that is truly fascinating to me. It's a little bit hard to see (because of his coloring) but there is a little owl with a white face that Lilly is looking at in this picture. Insert: "Awwwhhhhh!"

 Sam loves the Snowy Owl the best and was a little disappointed that they didn't have one. Luckily I was able to distract him enough with the other cool owls that WERE there before he got too upset. He liked this "Myth or Fact" learning activity. I think he stored every last nugget of information about those owls in his cute little "nut" (aka - brain).

Near the end of our walk around the Aviary, the boys discovered this cool pole with wings. It didn't look like much at first but then they started turning that red wheel looking thing. The turning wheel made the wings flap up and down. Oh....you better believe the boys had a good time with that!

We ended up staying a bit longer for a little bird "show"(or what we thought would be a "show") that was listed on the brochure...but it actually wasn't all that impressive. The bird trainers showed us about 3 different kinds of birds and that was it. No tricks. No singing and/or talking birds. I think we've been spoiled with the bird SHOW at the Hogle Zoo! :) Nonetheless, our morning at Tracy Aviary was absolutely worth it! 

Thanks again Grandma Deb for a super fun adventure!!