Outdoor Discovery Center

On Saturday, we took Samedh to the Outdoor Discovery Center south of Holland. It was way too cold to walk on the nature trails, so we spent some time inside the center looking at various animals and displays. Samedh enjoyed the turtles, and "meowed" at a stuffed fox.

Samedh also learned a new word: Owl. The center actually had an owl inside a cage, and we discovered him by accident. There were two large cages that were dark inside and appeared to be empty. On top of one of the cages were displays of various birds. I reached up to point out a downy woodpecker to Samedh. As I did, something "clicked" loudly at us several times. I jumped and looked around. Inside a dark corner of the cage in front of us sat the little owl. He was only about 10-12 inches tall. His eyes were very large and "mechanical looking", especially when he blinked. We observed him for a few minutes, and then I explained to Samedh that we should let him go back to sleep. All the way home, Samedh kept smiling and proudly repeated his new word, "Owl", "Owl", "Owl," over and over again.