Tyler’s Tree House Festival
pamelamyers | July 20, 2014
It’s been a while since we got Sam outside to the park, so we decided it would be a good day to head to Tyler Arboretum. Mark had expressed an interest in heading to a park, but wasn’t particular about which one. When I gave the suggestions to Sam last night, she immediately shouted, “TYLER!” She does love that place.
We figured out that it was the Tree House Festival, which meant there would be a lot of people, but headed out anyway. I do prefer places like Tyler when the crowds aren’t around and it feels like we have the place to ourselves, but Sam really had her heart set on it. So off we went! It was packed with people, and cars, and we had to park really far away. Luckily, there were some small truck type vehicles driving around taking people to the entrance. Sam thought it was the coolest thing – riding in the open back of a truck!
Boo Boo came too, as you can see below. Sam likes this bubble machine. She doesn’t understand why we can’t have one for our house.
As part of the festival, a bird handler was there with and owl, a falcon and some other interesting birds. The owl was some European variety, and really big! His name was Owlexander. Ha. Get it?
We found out spot on the grass where Sam could see what was going on….
When all of a sudden these people sat right next to us. Mark’s first thought, was, come on, seriously, right next to us? But then we saw who it was! I guess we all had the same thought for a fun day!
After the bird show was done, it was off to the treehouses. I remember when we first brought Sam here she was too little to climb up this one by herself and had to be carried, but now she just goes right up and down. Slowly, but she does it without assistance.
It does offer a great view!
The music house is one of my favorites. Truthfully, it could use some refurbishing, but I still like it and so does Sam.
We were going to head toward more houses and Sam got it in her head to veer off the path. I am glad she did. She headed toward a more woodsy area, and it was quiet and peaceful. She liked walking across these stumps that looked pretty new.
While she and Mark were playing, I noticed this cool log and wanted to show Sam. Before I could even get a chance to do so, she came running over and said, “Look, it looks like a dog!” Yup. It does.
Sam happily trekked off down the path, not even caring if we were behind her.
She found this fun looking pinecone and wanted to keep it. Mark explained to her that you have to leave the nature in the park so she asked me to take a picture. After we did, we threw the pinecone off the path and into the woods so hopefully it will grow into a new tree.
This treehouse is always good for pictures. You are up high and the trees make such a nice backdrop.
We wanted to see the butterflies in the butterfly house, but Sam couldn’t wait to visit the caterpillar. She always likes him.
We did see the butterflies, but it was early, and there weren’t a lot to see. So, we moved on and Sam found the hammocks. Apparantly, Boo Boo was tired.
Our silly girl. 🙂
I wanted to check out the pond since it’s always fun to look for frogs and turtles. I couldn’t believe how murky the water had gotten! It never used to be like that. But it didn’t stop Sam from exploring.
We brought her new binoculars and she looked to see what she could find.
Do we look like the three bears?
It had been a long day, and we were tired. But we did stop to see the bees pollinating some flowers.
\Poor girl. She conked right out. That’s a sure sign she had a lot of fun!
