Kid's Day For Conservation

It turns out there's been an event going on annually for 10 years that I had no idea existed.  Today was Kid's Day For Conservation, which is an event that educates kids about a huge variety of things in the natural world.

Simone and I biked there and met Mary (who ran some errands first).  Immediately upon arriving we heard the pounding of hammers so we went over to check it out.  You could build your very own bird house.  We hopped in line and waited our turn.

Simone did a great job hammering the nails in - not a bent nail to be had.

16 nails later we had a bird house and a very proud girl.  Now we have to figure out where to hang it.

Right after making the bird house we ran into an old friend, Maddie.  Simone and she hugged - it was like the  meeting of long-lost sisters.  Simone and Maddie played together during outside time last year nearly every day, but Maddie is at a different school this year.

Inside the fairgrounds there were all sorts of tables/booths.  You could make a seed bomb, a hairy buddy (nylon filled with seed and dirt which grows "hair"), paint, touch snakes and turtles, pet goats, learn about recycling, wetlands, listen to a story inside a huge inflatable fish, and even dress up a an animal and participate in a parade.  Simone chose to be a beaver:

On our way back to the bike to head home we saw a pretty butterfly in the flowers next to the bikes.  It flew away before we could get close, but I was able to snag a photo of a bee.

We'll probably check it out again next year.  I got to talk to one of the guys responsible for the wetland restoration project which is right next to the fairgrounds.  Pretty interesting stuff.