The Motherload

Today Ava had to go to the doctor, which she hates, so I decided I would take her to feed the ducks afterwards, which she loves. Apparently they hadn't been fed much today because as soon as we put a few crumbs out, we were surrounded. I had them literally eating out of my hand......not so much because I wanted it that way but because the moment my fingers held a piece of bread they would literally jump at me and snatch it away. One of them even bit Ava's hand twice when she wasn't holding anything apparently in anticipation of the bread that would soon be there! We backed off when I was afraid I could no longer defend her should they decide to attack and then the "bird lady" arrived. Okay really she is just some nice citizen who comes to make sure the ducks are fed but it was really cool because the ducks recognized her. She started walking into the park and one of the ducks quacked back to the others and ran towards her and the rest soon followed. Within just a few seconds every duck, seagull, pigeon, and flying thing was on the ground surrounding her. Ava just kept watching as more and more of them flew to greet her. I didn't get it in the picture but the sun was just starting to set on the opposite side of the big pond so it was a really pretty scene to watch. When Ava got bored with the ducks we played for a bit on the playground until it started to get cold. Before we left I told her "okay, you can go on the slide one more time and then we have to go bye-bye." The whole way home she was crying "one more slide, one more slide" and the ducks were soon forgotten. Good thing I took pictures!