Mother's Day at Wildlife West

On Mother's Day we took a trip out to the Wildlife West Nature Park, which is a nature preserve that houses many rescued animals. It's kind of like a small, rustic version of a zoo.

We briefed Lily on the animals that would be there, and she was very, very excited to see the mountain lions. However, when we arrived, it seemed as though her favorite attraction was the umbrella we bought just in case it rained. (It was a freak cold overcast day, made even cooler by us being out in the mountains east of town. And yes, those are snow boots she's wearing. Fur-lined snow boots. She might have gotten a little melodramatic about the cool weather.)

Once it was clear it wasn't going to rain, her new favorite thing was the free map we got when we bought our tickets. She carried it around and consulted it frequently.

She did make a little time to see the animals, though.

Can you believe that bear?

The ironic thing about the trip is that as much as she raved about the mountain lions, as much as she laughed as the javelina, and as much as we remarked about that bear basically trying to rub up against her through the glass, none of those things was her favorite. Nope. Not a one. Instead, when we were driving back into town and I asked her what her favorite part was, she quickly answered, "The bus." The bus. The bus? What the heck? It took me a minute to realize that her reported favorite of the day (a preference she has re-stated a few times since then) was an old, broken-down, repainted school bus that we walked past at the end of the animal exhibits. So unremarkable was this bus that we didn't climb aboard or take any pictures. We just walked past and said, "Oh, look. A bus." And yet that (that!) was Lily's favorite. Go figure.