As we approached the rhodedendrun garden, it occurred to me that our last visit was when Samuel was just a couple of weeks old. Such is the life of a second child. By the time Thomas was Samuel’s age he had been to the zoo numerous times, fed the ducks at least a couple and seen so many fun, interesting things. Not that he remembers any of it of course.

Samuel, on the other hand, was in awe of the waterfall. Poor kid has never seen a waterfall. I blame it on the sheer effort it takes to get two kids out the door.

He was all about feeding the ducks of course. We had the inevitable fight over the bags of duck food and who got to throw the most. Thomas used up his bag early and tried to get in on some of Samuel’s stash. Samuel responded with loud screeches. That kid is no pushover.

It took him a while, but he eventually learned how to get the food in the water, instead of at his feet, on his clothes, on his father…

And the entire time, I looked through the camera viewfinder and prayed that I wouldn’t end up in duck poop infested water fishing out one of my children.

It seems the squirrels at this park are well fed and not in the least bit afraid of people. I took this photo immediately before the enormous squirrel tried to carry my child away. OK, maybe not, but he did try to get some imaginary food out of Samuel’s hand.

And then, fo course, it was time for a snack. And a game of keep the food away from the squirrels. Thomas did his part by roaring at them whenever they came close. The squirrels had little fear, though, and almost took off with Samuel’s PB&J.

Finally, after the duck food was gone (and much Purell was dished out), we headed home. A beautiful day in the park and a good day for ducks – and squirrels.