The Ostrich Farm

Most off-the-freeway entertainment is pretty lame and/or sketchy, which is probably why we passed the ostrich farm just north of Tucson for over a decade without stopping. Turns out we made a mistake--that place is AWESOME!

First, we fed the donkeys:

Seth wasn't sure about it, but finally got brave:

Aaron was tired and miserable in the stroller: 

Next was the deer feeding.

So. Many. Deer. 

Aaron got in on some deer feeding.

They were less likely to try to eat him: 

Seth loads up some food to conveyer belt up... 

To the Goat Penthouse: 

Catherine loved this part and was pretty good at getting the food all the way up: 

They also had a wall of goats with instructions on how to get a goat to kiss you.

Kenna was happy to oblige: 

(I did it too, but no one got a picture, so there's no proof)

Jon and Aaron feeding all the little goats: 

Seth was afraid to get close.

Those goats would eat anything, including clothing and hair: 

Catherine loved the goats because they were tiny: 

And my mom (always the eglatarian) went down the line, making sure to feed every single goat: 

But the coolest part was feeding the lorakeets.

They would jump right onto your hands and remove the lids from their food: 

Aaron isn't sure about the birds: 

Catherine was THRILLED by the birds: 

Seth didn't like the birds on his hands, so he brought the food to the birds: 

The birds were very friendly: 

Seth gets a little braver: 

Kenna has a new best friend: 

Catherine was so, so excited that she had a bird on her head: 

Either checking for lice or trying to build a nest: 

Brian spent most of his time pestering this particular bird.

It did not appreciate the attention and devoted its time to chewing his fingers off: 

Two sweet girls: 

A passed-out Aaron: 

This was when we realized he was sick and not just tired. Aaron does NOT sleep outside his crib. Ever. So to pass out in Jon's arms meant he was really feeling bad. We took him home, realized he had a fever, and drugged him. When his temperature got over 103 degrees even with medication we took him to urgent care.  His temp was almost 104 and he had an ear infection, but it was secondary. Their best guess was roseola. We went home with antibiotics for the ear infection and were told to look for a rash later. Sure enough, it showed up a day or so later. Luckily the fever passed quickly and he was a happy boy again.