Our resident chucker was a bit ticked off the other day.
He was out back in the sun, enjoying a few apples…
Happily posing for pictures….
And an hour later?
Bam!
One cold woodchuck.
We had a squall move in from out of nowhere.
And I’m sure he was rethinking the decision to come out of hibernation.
No, he wasn’t happy.
With the snow…. or me.
While I’m not a huge television person, I do tend to leave the husband to his own devices at night ( and by this I mean John Wayne and MSNBC, not self gratification ) and curl up in bed with a remote of my own on occasion.
More often than not? I’ll be watching some dry as toast documentary that no one else finds the least bit appealing.
Case in point?
Yeah…. I loved it.
And if you’re wondering why the husband and I have to watch separate tv’s?
I once made him watch a 4 part series about Kublai and Genghis Khan called “Mongol Horde… Storm From The East”. He fell asleep 10 minutes into every episode and still never forgave me.
On my current DVR list?
Forbidden History is my jam.
Juicy secrets from the past….. what’s not to love?
I just discovered Unearthed.
And have been walking through the Valley of the Kings, marveling over ancient Thebes and reading hieroglyphs from the Temple of Karnak …. in my pajamas.
You can’t beat that with a stick.
I also record PBS’s Nature.
And now want a pet Pangolin.
I mean really…
How could I not?
Ah, spring!
In Maine? We tend to do it differently.
Like last Thursday, when one of our woodchucks came out of hibernation and said wtf?
The deer weren’t too happy either.
And before we knew it, what was supposed to be a light flurry…..
Turned into a full blown storm.
Complete with heavy wet snow weighing down the trees..
And turning everything into a winter wonderland.
Spring.
It isn’t always green.
Well now you can.
We had a lot of visitors this past winter.
These are pictures from back in January because I’m still playing catch up from the vacation posts.
Our buck kept his rack a lot longer than usual.
But it didn’t stop him from apple picking.
Or sticking his tongue out at the photographer.
Cheeky little bugger.
Father and son…
Or daughter, it’s hard to tell at this stage.
Crazy weather this winter left the wildlife a little shell shocked.
Snow, rain, ice, warm temperatures, then more snow and ice. They didn’t know what the hell was going on.
We had skunks in January and fox in February.
And deer?
Yes dear, we had deer.
Veritable herds of deer.
Who we love to watch.
I mean really….
How can you not?
Such beautiful creatures.
They almost make the slow internet speed we have to suffer in the country worthwhile.
Making our way inside, I was surprised by the number of dead things at the Virginia Living Museum.
And to be honest?
They didn’t look too happy about the fact either.
Look at the stink eye on this owl.
Clearly he’s not pleased with that skeleton placement.
The woodchuck has a piece of wood.
A bit too on point…. no?
And Bambi?
Well, he looks like he’s ready to bite off a curator’s finger…. or two.
Even the turtle you climb into wasn’t immune from the specter of death.
But what really took the cake?
The Christmas tree….
Complete with a fish skull angel topper.
If that doesn’t give junior screaming holiday nightmares… nothing will.
Thankfully there were live creatures as well.
Though little people had to be talked into petting them.
Horseshoe crabs used to wash up on the Jersey shore by the dozens when I was a kid and they always fascinated me.
A more prehistoric sea creature you’re not apt to find.
There were interestingly set up exhibits on multiple levels.
Where the husband practiced his fish whispering again.
Various tanks contained the beautiful…
And the bizarre.
I couldn’t quite figure out this crab.
Was he picking his nose… or giving me the finger?
Tough call.
I was pleased to see my favorite Lionfish again….
Spiky venomous fins and all.
Gracie fell totally in love with a puffer and sang songs to it…..
Though she got yelled at by a volunteer for being a little too physical with the tank.
I’m not sure why disco colored lights ruled in the jellyfish area.
But we enjoyed the aquarium and it’s funky residents.
There was an odd cave like area….
That was very dark and next to impossible to take pictures in… so I can’t share the bats and snakes and reptiles we saw.
But I did manage a shot of the sign for my husband’s spirit animal.
Yup… change the shiny objects part to rusty crap? And they’re his people.
Gracie enjoyed the interactive children’s section where all the other kids were making plates of plastic food for their parents.
My contribution to the meal she was making for her mother?
What can I say?
You just can’t beat a nicely roasted rat.
After we settled into resort #2, we tried to pick a day’s activity that we could all enjoy… because yours truly was not visiting another theme park, no matter how much I loved that child.
Hence the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News. Part zoo, part aquarium and lots of interactive children’s exhibits.
Because who doesn’t love a velociraptor Santa Claus?
An extensive boardwalk wraps around the wildlife enclosure where little people can run to their heart’s content.
And the old folks can enjoy the beauty of a red fox…..
And a bobcat.
Who even though a wild cat, still enjoyed a cardboard box.
Insert required cute group photo here.
There was a plastic dinosaur section…..
Where little hands could get filthy excavating some plastic bones.
Injured vultures…..
And bald eagles were next… this one with a clearly broken wing. And if you’ve ever wondered how large an eagle’s nest is?
Yeah. They’re pretty damned large.
More boardwalks, more running.
And some shore birds…
Whose antics I could easily have stood and watched all day.
Did she see anything?
No, but she had fun trying.
I think we’ve established we are not theme park people.
So spending 6 hours at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg while on Christmas vacation?
It’s billed as the prettiest theme park in the country.
And while I doubt that’s a very high bar…..
It’s plastic fantastic fake European villages failed to impress….. seeing they were less village and more overpriced stores filled with gimmicky tourist merchandise.
It was enough to make me drink.
Warm Apple Pie Cocktail in hand… we continued.
(You knew it was coming, don’t look so surprised. If ever I was in dire need of alcohol? It was then.)
So we paid a fortune, had drinks in hand and a 7 year old who wanted to go on some rides. Problem was… most of them weren’t operational for Christmas.
This did not go over well with the little person in our midst.
She couldn’t drink, and she didn’t care about fake Europe… she just wanted some rides!
We found a few animals to distract her.
But it was cold and she was growing more bored with each step. Every ride we passed? Locked up tight.
And then viola!
I spotted a gondola.
3 adults and a midget. We’re in!
So we get on line.
A long line.
A very long line that took us almost 40 minutes to reach the end.
We boarded, anticipating a leisurely ride over the park.
And I kid you not, after taking this picture….
And this video….
Which lasted 40 seconds, we were done.
One second of ride for each minute we waited on line. Totally worth it!
Not.
We landed in “France”.
And you know what? I’ve been to France…. this wasn’t even close.
Still not finding a working ride, I spotted Hogwarts and the child’s eyes lit up.
Yay me!
Boo Busch Gardens…. it was blocked off and locked up tight.
I was beginning to hate this place.
Psychedelic camera toting bear aside.
Did I mention it was cold?
I mean down right freezing for southerners and even quite brisk for us Yankees after a few hours of walking.
At least this made her laugh.
If we had known all the fun kid stuff would be closed? We wouldn’t have gone in the afternoon but just waited until after dark for the lights.
Even the scooter brigade looked disappointed.
We did mange to find an old time carousel.
Where we waited on line for another 30 minutes to ride for 30 seconds. You could seriously get whiplash from how quickly these things end.
Magic dragons were climbed on….
Towers were explored….
More alcohol was needed….
Okay, maybe that was just me.
Rope bridges were crossed….
Even by the husband if you can believe it.
Another warm up station later, it was starting to get dark enough to see some lights.
And yes, as cold and miserable as I was….. I was going to wait until dark for the lights we paid almost $300 to see.
A preview…
With apologies to Kevin Costner….
I’m talking about the deer.
When snow covers the ground and grass is hard to find?
Shoveling a path is a sure way to attract a crowd.
Or a herd, as the case may be.
We were really glad to see our resident 12 point buck survived hunting season.
And visits daily with his harem.
Of course he also chases them away when the treats run low.
Cheeky bugger.
Here’s a little clip in between snow storms.
River's world..... 