May 26, 2006

Attack of the Ducks


Ava and I enjoyed an interesting morning at the park today. It has been so hot in the afternoons that I decided to take her outside a little earlier today. I packed tortillas and we headed to Nelson park to feed the ducks. We did this a few weeks ago, and she's been saying,"Feed the ducks" ever since. I had imagined that we would throw some bread to a few ducks, walk around the pond area, and enjoy a serene morning with the God's creations. I was wrong. I don't think the pictures adequately reflect the number of ducks and geese that were gathered this morning. When we arrived at the duck pond, I took Ava out of the car with one tortilla and we started throwing small torn pieces to the nearest ducks. Every duck in the area started waddling, swimming and flapping toward us. By the time we had given out our first tortilla, there was a swarm of about 100 ducks encircling, some even snapping at us as they quacked. At first this was funny; then it started to freak Ava (and me) out. The ducks didn't concern me, but the geese were pretty agressive. I picked Ava up and started to slowly back away, but the geese did not back down. Those crazy animals chased us back to the car, honking loudly. And yes, I ran! I am sure this was a hilarious sight, but I felt had no choice. Chad was bitten by a duck as a child and I was not going to stick around to let history repeat itself. I headed back to the car for more tortillas and the security of a quick getaway (just in case.) I let Ava in the car as I gathered more bread, and when I looked up, there were ducks and geese completely surrounding our car. The quacking was getting louder and louder at this point, and Ava started saying, "Uh-oh, mommy." We stuck around a little longer and handed out the rest of our tortillas before we headed over to the park to swing. We honked the horn several times loudly to no avail. These ducks were not afraid of cars, horns or people. I finally had to put the car in reverse and drive out backwards to get out of there without hitting a duck! These photos were taken prior to the attack of the geese, after which I would not let Ava down. But you can still get an idea of how many ducks were out. I wish I had a panoramic camera because they were completely surrounding us!

5 comments:

Kara said...

maybe you had problems uploading the pics, but that story is hysterical in my mind! i have been attacked by a duck and it made me bleed! so i totally understand the flight response to being surrounded by ducks.

Shelly said...

I laughed out loud reading this story! I bet you were pretty freaked out. It makes me think of the movie "The Birds". I'm glad you two made it out of there okay. It was so fun looking at Ava's pictures. She looks so big in that crib! Hayley does the same thing---sticking her legs out like that. Hard to believe we're getting closer and closer to b-day #2. Can't wait to see you at the shower this week! Love ya--

Heather said...

I love it!!!! Only you, Summer.
Ava looks so precious.

Brooks Inc. said...

Summer-
I loved this story...I cannot believe how much ava has grown since the last time I saw her. She is beautiful.

I am so excited to see you tomorrow night at Julia's shower!

Ashley said...

Hey Summer,

I found your blog through other ACU ers. Ava is precious! I have a 5 month old little girl. They are something else! It was great to catch up reading your posts. My sister was here last weekend and I wish so badly that she just lived a block away! Tell Chad hello.

Ashley Core Nelson