Natural Habitat

Lately I've been able to enjoy some of the area's natural wildlife with the girls. I'm trying to help Em feel more comfortable around animals. She thinks dogs are great as long as they're on the other side of the street. And it's not uncommon when she goes to play in the backyard to come back in about 15 seconds later and inform me there's a bug out there. When I go to check it out, it's usually an ant or a tiny speck of a fly. The other day she was very put out by a humming bird. Really.

So, a couple weeks ago we went to Pacific Grove's monarch butterfly sanctuary. This is really a cool place. Every year thousands of monarch butterflies fly hundreds of miles to live out the winter months in this ideal eco-climate. And in the spring they migrate back to their place of origin. What's so cool is that each year it's not the same butterflies that come, their life spans are so short that it's actually several younger generations of butterflies that make the same migration each year to the same spot. Somehow they know where to go.

ANYWAY, in this picture you can see them clustering to keep warm along the tree needles. They deceptively look like leaves.

As we were admiring the butterflies one flew directly at eye level towards Emily, which made her very nervous. Just before reaching her, it turned suddenly and lit upon a little boy's pant leg.
Immediately after that near death experience, Em wanted to go home. I had to keep convincing her that butterflies are nice. She kept saying, "I don't like butterflies. I like kitty cats. Kitty cats are nice. I don't like butterflies."

Reading up on butterfly literature. Are they truly a species to be feared?

Another instance of a complete stranger insisting on taking our picture. They're so nice here!

Close up of one of the little critters. I tried to get Em in the pic too.... yeah, fat chance. She wouldn't go near it.

So a couple days later we went to the wharf. The wharf offers all sorts of wildlife viewing. Harbor seals and pelicans hang out there every day. As we were standing on the wharf looking over the bay I spotted some seals playing in the water together. They were splashing and doing flips and literally kissing each other. This pic doesn't do it justice. They were a lot closer than what this photo depicts.

I excitedly pointed them out to the girls. Look Em! Do you see the seals playing in the water?

Em, trying to figure out what I was so excited about, crouched down and to get a better look between the two wooden boards. She exclaimed, "I see it Mom! I see the web!" Confused I took a closer look. Instead of spotting the seals, this is what she saw:
Yeah, a spider web one inch from the tip of her nose.

So, not so much success there, although I really love going down to the wharf, it's so relaxing and I can usually find some good chocolate along the way.

Some more seals relaxing in the sun. Sometimes we can hear them barking from our house! Em and C do really cute impressions of seal barking.

So, just yesterday we had another chance to see some local wildlife. Actually, not so wild. Farm animals. Our friends scored a deal where they're basically going to farm sit for a family and live in their farm house for free (except for utilities) for the next eight months. All they have to do is feed the animals twice a day.

Em was much more at ease around these animals. Both girls LOVED it in fact. Maybe because all the animals were behind a fence. Or maybe because we have about fifty books/toys that are farm animal themed.

Here's an alpaca. Am I the only person who has never heard of an alpaca? Probably. They were pretty cool. Reminded me of a Dr. Seuss character.

An emu. The lady giving the farm tour told us she eats emu egg omelettes!

Not so scared of the goats.

And go figure, Em's very favorite farm animal was the pig. She couldn't stop talking about the pig.

Cute little guy

Em's friend Izzy (remember hide-and-go-seek?) who is moving out to the farm. Hopefully we'll get to visit a lot!
I had to get a picture of the pony's antlers. Classic.
And on a completely unrelated note, I had to get some pics of C at the ward Christmas party donning her Christmas dress. She only wore the hat for about four seconds that night, so we had to take a pic fast.

And in case you're wondering where the heck my hubbie is, here he is in his natural habitat as of late, poor guy!