Hello friends,

Today I will share a completely different place than the other time. I think it’s good to change themes from time to time for the variety. We don’t all the time visit museums or parks. We switch around. That way our kids don’t get bored and each time they enjoy it.
I believe this way they learn a lot, and will get in the habit of doing the same with their kids in the future (I hope). It’s kind of like homeschooling, when parents take kids to places and it’s included in their curriculum.

If you remember on Saturday we went to the Flagler Museum. We spend there about two or three hours and then went to get some lunch.

On the way we stopped by Manatee Lagoon for a short walk and after that went somewhere where kids can have some fun. They were behaving well at the museum so now it was their turn to enjoy. So we went to a petting zoo.

They didn’t tell me where we were driving, I guess it was a surprise (my husband planned whole day, so I was just going wherever they said to go. When we stopped in front of some ice-cream shop, I thought, that’s good, I like ice-cream. But then we walked through the shop and went out through the back door… I was confused. There I saw a lot of green bushes at first, and a few
macaws. Only then kids told me we are at petting zoo. These guys can play spy games.

So the petting zoo is located in Derlay Beach, and it’s a part of an ice-cream shop. It’s a great idea to combine both, kids get to eat treats, and pet the animals. If you happen to visit Derlay Beach one day, make sure you stop by this Ice-cream/Petting zoo - Girls Straberry U-pick.

My husband got us tickets, they were surprisingly cheap. He also bought a bowl of vegetables and a cup of fruits for the birds and animals to feed. These bowls looked way too good. The food was put nicely like if it was for people at some restaurant. I was happy to know that the owners take good care of their animals.

We saw macaws, toucans, and few other parrot like birds that I didn’t know names of.

Then we went to feed budgerigars. I used to have a couple of them in the past. They are a little fun birds. So kids and I tried to feed them some seeds. We saw a girl who managed to make the birds climb on her hand and eat from there. My daughter looked at me showing with all her expression she wants to do the same.

You know that any parent would try to give his child whatever is possible, if it’s good for the kid. So I observed people around how they did it. There was one dad he explained his daughter to hold the stick with food first on the ground and when the bird is comfortable eating from it, to start lifting hand slowly.

We repeated after them and it worked! My girl was so happy, that little bird ate from her hand. She was afraid to move and scare her away.

I decided to try that trick myself and it worked for me as well.

A few birds there looked like they still were too young and couldn’t fly, their wings were folded in a different way, and they were just running around.

After we fed birds we went to check what else we can do there.

I saw these beautiful pigeons. They looked fat and proud. They are so different from regular street pigeons. Their bodies are more puffy, and tails are more wide.

While I was admiring these pigeons, my kids called me to feed the goats and sheep. They were just behind me. I turned around and saw a bunch of cute looking goats jumping on the fence trying to get some treats from the kids.

They were too excited. My daughter and I chose the one who we thought was super cute, and shy. We tried to feed him the most. We called him Baby. He has smart and kind eyes.

Then we saw how two little goats were fighting on the roof of their little house. It’s funny that goats had a pretty big playground that looked like kids’ playground with slides, houses, and bridges. Looks like they have everything you can only think of.

After goats we walked further down and saw donkeys. We had a few hard pressed dry grass for them. The big donkey was able to take it but the smaller one was trying to take a bite, and it was too hard for him. We gave him carrot sticks instead.

Next we saw ponies, by then we fed all the treats to other animals and birds, so we had nothing for them. Poor ponies, I hope workers noticed that tendency and feed them extra treats.

Kids also got to hold chicks and ducklings, but we didn’t get any bunnies because there was a long line and not that many bunnies.

All in all it was a great day for us. We’ve experienced so much just in one day. It’s always good for kids to pet animals, I think it gives them some responsibility feel. Especially holding some fragile pets like little chicks or any animal babies.

When it was time to leave my husband showed me that field, he said they grow strawberries there. I don’t know though when and if they let visitors to pick the berries, maybe in the right season they do.

It was nice to have some break from being sick, and to enjoy simple things that life gives us. It’s always brings me joy to spend time with my family. We love spending quality time with the kids and show them as many good places and as much good things as we can. I’m really thankful for this day and the joy we had together.