Finally Some Summer Fun!

 We went with a homeschoolers' group to Entopia - the butterfly farm a few weeks ago. The local attractions have a 1/2 price promotion for local residents so we were able to go. Even though there are many other learning exhibits and other insects, as usual, the highlight was how many butterflies landed on us!

Butterfly bracelets!

This huge white one didn't want to leave Jasmin's hand! She had

to really work to coax it off onto a leaf. And before that, we managed to pass it around without it flying off!

Then, earlier this week, we ventured onto the mainland to visit the bird park. We traveled longer to get there and back than we spent in the park, but since we went with friends, even the travel was fun - bus, ferry, Grab.

Again the highlight was handling some of the animals... when it came to pigeons though, it was more like being mobbed! This picture is from after it cleared a little.

This was the bird we were trying to feed....

There was a short show of macaws doing a few tricks and then a chance to hold them. Aiden wanted to, but he was too small - they are amazingly heavy!

Both Aiden and Grace held the python though. Aiden was impressed with its heaviness, Grace with it feeling like ooblec!

This is Malaysia's official bird, the horn bill.

There were lots of fantastical birds: exquisite, funny, beautiful, amazing. How much fun God must have had planning and making so many different kinds!

  The emus were another strong hit. They were curious and surprisingly tall when they stretch up. Both Grace and Aiden nearly lost their mask to a curious peck! Emus make a really low thrumming/booming sound that is like a deep drum. It is quite strange to realize it is coming from these birds rather than a distant construction or something.

We almost missed the owls altogether, so we were pleased that a worker came by and brought them out for us.  They were pretty sleepy and none too pleased to be routed out - if we stood too close to their tree, they flew off. All the same, Grace and Aiden got a good close up of them.

Despite it being an old style zoo of mostly cages and artificial environments, the birds all looked bright and healthy.

The final surprize of the summer so far:
We were at Tesco yesterday on our way home from Chinese class and on the spur of the moment we decided to get Grace's eyes tested. Grace has been trying an program designed to strengthen the eyes and reverse her prescription this summer and we wanted to see if it was working.And since its free and quick, we did Aiden's too. It was quite a surprize to us that Aiden needed glasses! It isn't a light beginning prescription either; all the more surprising as he hasn't been complaining or showing signs of not being able to see clearly at all. Now of course, we hear a lot about how well he is seeing!