Toddlers, vultures & rocks!
The other day, we went on an adventure to Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, just outside of State College. I had my own 2-year-old and 6-month-old, plus my favorite sweet little 3-year-old with me, as well as my mom (which makes any adventure more doable and more fun). I had only been to this place once before for a seasonal event (the Maple Harvest Festival!). It was awesome but super busy, and at the time, I had a one-month-old who couldn’t figure out how to nurse yet, so the whole thing was sort of a blur. That meant today’s goal was just to explore and get a feel for the place. I went into it with no specific idea of what we would do or see or investigate…which was great, because the whole thing actually began with a giant lake of baby poo in the carseat. And I do mean a lake. This was a toss-the-whole-baby-out-and-start-over sort of diaper, but we managed to clean it up and move on to the more desirable part of the day.
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The cutest little culprit
When we got there we had to park sort of far away up a winding hill (it’s in the middle of a gorgeous mountainous forest). I knew I’d be wearing the baby and pulling the wagon, because my mom has a literal broken back at the moment. (And yes, I have wondered if I stepped on the wrong crack somewhere along the way.) We made it though, because I was determined not to leave the wagon in the van. I’m very attached to my Radio Flyer wagon, which was the Best Shower Gift Ever, and it serves so many useful purposes when we are out and about! It’s a tired-toddler-carrier, it’s a traveling library, it’s a baby playspace (he can’t crawl or sit up yet so he can’t fall out), it’s a bag-hauler, and in mountainous terrain, it’s also a workout-on-wheels! Also sometimes you can outsource to the toddlers. Then when you’re done, it folds up in one quick second and goes right in the back of the van. So I was NOT leaving that sucker behind; we NEEDED it.
Putting that toddler to work
I lugged that thing a hundred miles down the mountain (give or take 99.75 or so)... And it was SO WORTH IT. Right off the bat we discovered these fantastic giant stones (used for benches to view the outdoor stage). They were perfect for climbing up and jumping off, which Mr. 2 and Miss 3 did for quite some time while I sat in peace and nursed the baby. He thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing, staring around at the trees (his absolute favorite activity) and kicking his fat little feet in the breeze. I watched a hundred toddler tricks while they worked on some really awesome climbing and self-confidence skills. Jumping with both feet off the ground, and landing with both feet is legitimately a challenging gross motor skill for this age range, and a great thing to practice! Mr. 2 was especially proud of himself - every time he jumped and stuck the landing he yelled “ME! Ta-da! ME!”.
We also spent some time dancing on the empty amphitheater stage to Encanto, which is among the most popular dance music in our household these days. If you haven’t checked out that movie, you should. Fantastic music and an inspiring, non-romance-themed message. It’s particularly awesome for the girls in your crowd with a charming message of female empowerment.
From the stage, the kids spied a series of logs billed as the “log run”. It’s basically nature’s best balance beam.They toddled back and forth on that thing probably fifteen times. They really loved the feel of that particular challenge, and we loved watching them challenge themselves. They both also found some really fun trees, tree stumps, rocks, flowers, and dead leaves, all of which were worthy of closer inspection. They also found a pond and no one even fell in! Mom and I pretty much followed them around exclaiming over their discoveries. Their joy was infectious, and it certainly didn’t hurt that the weather was as perfect as can be.
See? No one is wet!
They were hungry then, because they’re always hungry, so we sat on some rocks and had a snack. There may have been a grown-up potty break too, which is why it’s super-great to have two adults when you take these little excursions. I had packed books, because I always pack books, but they were so peacefully staring around them at the forest as they munched that I didn’t want to fill that space. There is such value in those silent observations…I always wonder what meditations are happening in their heads. It’s like you can see them forming positive connections with nature…you can just feel the calm. It’s really beautiful if you just let it be.
I know you all have some lovely bottle-feeding and nursing moments in nature - you get it! Listening to them chug that milk while you stare at the trees…!
Ten lovely minutes later, they were fighting over who got to pull the wagon, so it was time to move on. We trundled right on around the corner to the aviary! This nature center has a whole variety of raptors who are non-releasable. They’ve been injured or are permanently disabled and are unable to live on their own in the wild, so they are very well-cared for and serve an educational purpose.
The toddlers were gasping with excitement. We saw eagles, hawks, owls, and kestrels. We met a Black Vulture named Matilda who played peekaboo with the kids…for real! I had no idea vultures could be so social. And so beautiful! And believe it or not - a book connection! At naptime lately, the toddlers have been requesting Sandra Boynton’s “A is for Angry”. On the “V” page is a Vain Vulture. Sweet little Miss 3 looked right up at me in front of the vulture’s enclosure and said “A vain vulture! He likes to look at himself!” and giggled. So there you go - environmental education AND a vocab lesson.
The last and COOLEST bird that we saw was an ordinary crow. Except that crows aren’t really that ordinary.They are SO smart! This particular bird friend has been taught how to bang some notes on the tiny piano in his enclosure and kick a soccer ball into his itty bitty soccer goal! He was also very chatty (no actual words, although crows are capable of learning words) and he was very vocally opposed to us walking away. I could have stood and talked to that crow all day.
But the toddlers were off! We had places to go! It was getting close to lunch and naptime, and it was a good 25 minute drive from home so I was majorly gambling - do we leave right now and hope to keep them awake so they nap at home for the usual length of time? OR do we just stay longer and let them nap in the car and drive around (which actually means get coffee somewhere) and hope they stay asleep? But if they only catnap in the car, then the afternoon is ruined…or, or, or…..well, those of you who have lived the toddler life know there are very few ways to win Naptime Roulette and many, many ways to lose. So I figured we might as well stay a bit longer.
We ventured inside and discovered a fabulous herpetarium! That’s the new word I learned today - herpetarium. I did not know that was a thing. Apparently it’s a zoological exhibit devoted to reptiles and amphibians. We saw snakes and turtles and frogs and snails and these tiny little shrimp living with the snails. We heard frog sounds! We watched the turtles swim! Mr. 2 was most excited by the fact that he could see these creatures’ EYES. He absolutely could not believe that they all had two eyes. I’m not sure what made that so mind-blowing, but man, when a toddler gets his mind blown, he gets his mind blown BIG TIME. The staffer who walked around with us to answer questions was highly amused.
TWO EYES!!!
There were so many awesome learning opportunities today! We talked about the animals being carnivores and herbivores and what that meant, we talked about the food chain, we talked about different animal habitats and why they need them. We talked about height and length (bird wingspans!) and the differing sizes of the birds, even though they were all adults. The science and math exposure abounded today. While we didn’t read any books on our outing, we did make that cool literacy connection about the vulture, and of course they had books in their carseats on the drive to and from. And as we always do, we also read books before we left in the morning and after we got back.
In case anyone is wondering, I made it back up the hill hauling the wagon and felt no need to get any further exercise that day. And I did get my Car-Nap Coffee. Although the baby didn’t sleep, the toddlers did. One of them kept right on sleeping in that van for an hour after we got home. (Not my own toddler, naturally it was our sweet little friend. My kids don’t sleep. More on that later.) This turned into a great transition - I laid the baby on a quilt in the yard right next to the van so I could watch my napper (obviously with the van a/c running and the doors wide open) and let my own non-napper run wild.
This was an awesome adventure, and we will definitely be heading back there many more times! Now that I have a feel for it, we’ll be able to make better use of the hiking trails (there’s a lake we didn’t even get to!)...but today’s toddler-led exploration was an excellent introduction to the place. We didn’t need a plan. We didn’t need any goals or any maps or anything specific to do. They showed us what to do, and mostly, it was climbing on rocks and counting eyes. And that’s awesome.