We took advantage of the pleasantly mild Sunday weather to take a final trip up to Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary on Labor Day weekend.

This marked the first weekend that our church services moved to new times. Since we were on our way back home before 10:30 a.m., we decided to pack everyone up and get lunch along the way.

One of the girls’ friends had gone to church, so we let Mercedes ride home with her. We went home, got changed, and headed over to pick up Mercedes and invite her friend to come with (who was able to go with, happily). Then, we were off, and headed to – all together now – Storheim’s Frozen Custard for lunch and dessert. (We usually go there several times a year but I think we’ve made our quota, just counting visits this past summer alone.)

By the time we got over to Bay Beach it was already going on 2:00 p.m., but we got to work right away. Starting where we left off last time, we visited the Nature Education center. Things went a little faster through the displays but it didn’t take long for the girls to find the slide down into the beaver lodge, again. However, this time, Shaelin took one look at it and decided “nuh-uh, no way.” It’s amazing how that changed in just 3 months. After a while and with a little bit of help, though, she got into it again, deciding it wasn’t so bad. There was one time she got stuck(!) when she went down behind one of the other girls, but she wasn’t too traumatized. She went down several more times after that.

Next we headed to the Woodland Building. Here, you can see a number of animals, including both a lynx and a mountain lion. The girls all thought the mountain lion was a “pretty kitty,” but there was a stark reminder of the nature of this animal: a bloody piece of bone was all that remained of lunch. Still, it was a beautiful cat, and quite the sight to behold. From there we went inside, checked out the nocturnal animals, and then to the timber wolf observation area. There wasn’t anything remarkable here, unfortunately.

The Wildlife Habi-Trek essentially starts just outside this building. This is a fancy name for a paved path through the outdoor habitats; various birds (including a pine marten, a crow, and a raven – a great educational opportunity!), some coyotes, and of course, white tail deer. We had not planned to feed the deer but a kind stranger gave a little corn to the girls.

We wrapped things up by taking the short hike around the lagoon, including the duck shack (Duck Shack, Ba-ayy-be-eeeee… tin roof, rusted!) and a lesser number of mosquitoes than last time. This brought us to the Observation Building, and with the last quarter we had in our pockets, we got a bag of corn for all of the girls to feed the ducks. Not the geese, though. We had a little excitement when a goose got spooked and flew right over Mercedes… well, more like used her head as a springboard. She was a trooper, though.

The girls we all tuckered out by the time we finally left. They had all walked the entire time, including Shaelin, and it was no surprise that she fell asleep shortly after getting on the road.

All in all, it sure was a nice way to offficially end our summer adventures.