Mother's Day at Maymont

We originally had planned on going to the Zoo, but they are closed on Sundays (who makes their schedule?! Fail)  We decided to go to Maymont, which is a local estate with a petting zoo, gardens, a nature center, and lots of lawns to relax on.  It was perfect.

 

We started things at the petting zoo.  Hadleigh had been talking about “seeing the animals” all morning and I was excited for her to see them.  She loved the chickens and the birds the most.  She was very hesitant around the goats and HATED the donkey & the bison.  I couldn’t even stop to look at either because she was telling me “no no no no no mama! You go this way!” as she was pointing the opposite direction.  It was funny, but we really thought she would enjoy all of the animals.  Hayden took everything in – just going along with whatever we were doing.

They have a Japanese Garden section that has stones you can walk across the pond on.  This was Hadleigh’s favorite part by far.  Daniel and I took turns taking her and letting her jump the stones.

We walked uphill and up steps with a double stroller.  Well, Daniel was really in charge of the double stroller, but I had to help him lift it…not fun.  After you get to the top of the hill, you come out to the lawns.  So many people were out having picnics with their families.  It was really busy, but the place is so big, you didn’t really notice too much.  We laid out a blanket, had snacks, took some pictures, and rested before we started our walk to the Nature Center.

We hadn't been in the Nature Center before, so we decided to pay the $3 for Hadleigh to at least see the otter.  They had turtles, snakes, fish, and an owl throughout the center.  Hadleigh was too busy running to the next thing to see, so she didn't really take too much in.  At the end, the otter demonstration was going on, so we stopped and watched that for a few minutes. 

After the Nature Center we started the walk back to the car.  The girls were tired from the playing and mommy and daddy were tired from the walking! So happy my mother's day was spent with the 3 people who have made me being a mommy possible!