Cheap Family Fun

There's this thing called the Greenbelt here in Boise. It's much like the Provo River Trail in Provo, if you've ever seen that. There's a paved path that runs along the Boise River. It's striped just like a real road, and you have to stay in your lane or risk being run over by cyclists and dog-walkers. It has bridges and underpasses, and places that go right down into the water, either to swim (brrr....it's cold!), fish, or launch a tube or raft. Mostly, it's just a really cool place to skate, walk, or ride. The Greenbelt is also dotted with parks. Or it connects parks, or however you want to think of it. And it attracts Canada Geese like crazy. (Yeah, I know. Canada Geese sounds weird, but it's what all the birding guides and textbooks say.)
We went to check out the park that houses the zoo and some other interesting things, and discovered the "Lagoon," a pond besotted with ducks and geese. We returned the next day with two loaves of bread.
When we first ventured forth from the Jeep, Zach excitedly stuck his hands in his armpits, flapped his elbows, and said, "bok bok bok!" No Zach, those aren't chickens. So we taught him to sign "duck."

The boys were mesmerized. Jared had to be reminded not to just hand over an entire slice at a time, and Zach couldn't concentrate on throwing, although he insisted on trying. He mostly tossed a piece of bread a few inches from his toes (and occasionally right on his toes), but that seemed to suit him and the birds just fine.

When we started tossing bread into the pond (oh, I mean the Lagoon), tiny ducklings magically appeared front and center. At first there were two, then they seemed to magically multiply into 8 or 9! And when we threw bread to them, the other ducks didn't interfere. Except one, who was obviously the kindergarten teacher. She swam amongst them and took advantage of her privileged position to scoop a snack. But if the other ducks got jealous and tried to snatch from the babies, she angrily chased them off, snapping at them. Unfortunately, the same respect was not afforded two bigger, not very fluffy, but still yellow ducklings. They were chased away relentlessly, forced to the back of the bunch, and once were even forced under water by snapping beaks. I thought it very rude.

Now, I have a healthy respect for Canada Geese. They're very large, and when provoked (or not), they have been known to charge (at me, personally) with wings flapping, neck extended, and emitting a horrible hissing sound. And when they bite, they hurt (their lack of teeth is deceptive)! So I was a bit nervous when I saw how close the geese were getting to the boys. Especially when I saw this happening through the viewfinder of my camera!
But no one was hurt, and aside from finding the soles of our shoes plastered with smelly green goose-poop, and not having any bread in the house for lunch the next day, we had a wonderful time.