White Rock & Roll

I wanted to post this before I pass out from sheer exhaustion brought on by the crappiest day ever.. literally... I mean, it just doesn't stop! Where does that much poo come from?!

Anyway, on a more positive note, I spent a lot of this afternoon driving the kids around because, well, they were asleep, and that is a blessed state for kids to be in on the tail end of an afternoon.

So I was driving around the highways and biways of Halton Hills and ended up at the White Rock Ostrich Farm over near Rockwood. I have always meant to go there with the kids and hey, it was open and I was there with kids, so in we went.

Once the kids got over the confusion of realizing that they weren't at the park, they trundled over to the hay wagon and off we went on our own little private tour of the farm. Both of the kids were fascinated by the birds and Kara was always waving bye-bye to them when drove out of sight.

The high point of the tour was feeding time with the 'teenagers', who were all about a year old. Garrett had a giant cup full of dried corn, which is supposed to be like candy for the birds. Now we were pulled up right alongside the fence and if nothing else, I learned that ostrich necks are LONG. Garrett had a hoot feeding them and Kara thought it was hilarious unless one of them got that gleam in its eye and started making a move near her, at which case she made sure I was between her and the incoming beak.

We even got to see some little ostrich chicks. According to the farmer, this summer hasn't been very good for breeding as the changes in temperature are throwing off the eggs. That said, I'm sure they're having lots of giant omelettes!

Both of the kids got a feather, though we had to confiscate Kara's because she keeps sticking it up her nose. The lady was even nice enough to let us go on the tour without paying up front, as they only took cash and I just had plastic. I zipped into town afterwards and got the money to pay her, so we're all squared away, but it's nice to know there are people who still trust other people around these parts.

So yeah. If you're looking for something to do and have a half hour or so to kill, take the kids down and feed the ostriches. It'll blow their minds.