Our Trip to Deer Forest

Chris had to work today, so Jonathan, Alex and I needed an adventure. I decided we'd go to one of my favorite summer attractions - Deer Forest. This was THE highlight of my summer from ages five to ten. I fondly remembered listening to the tinny speakers in Storybook Lane, and braving the herd of deer with an ice cream cone filled with food pellets in my hand.

The drive up to Coloma went well, and the parking lot was mostly empty. I'd called ahead to make sure they were open - had I not, I think I might have assumed they were closed. We walked through the gift shop and I forked over $48 for tickets, a bucket of animal feed, and an elephant key. Alex and Jonathan immediately took off running in separate directions. Jonathan found a little helicopter he wanted to sit in, while Alex grabbed a handful of food and headed towards the llama corral. When the herd of llamas - really quite large animals - came thundering over, I learned the Bear is pretty good at walking backwards.

We fed sheep, a cow, goats, miniature horses, and baby pigs. Alex insisted on wrapping his fist around the feed, so I taught him to throw the food into the pens. Jonathan was brave enough to let a few animals eat from his hand, but he tended to pull back, making the poor animals stretch their necks to the utmost. We watched the adult male deer pacing in their pens - Jonathan announced "They're having a parade!" In between animal feedings, I did my best to degrime Alex's hands. They have huge dispensers of alcohol-based sanitizer scattered around the park, and it really was his favorite part of the whole day. He ran up to every station and tried to push the pump handle.

Deer Forest has added some carnival style rides, and at $48 admission I intended to ride every one. So Jonathan and Alex rode boats, carts, and ladybugs. We all got on the Ferris Wheel, where I did my best to stay calm. Jonathan loved whooshing up to the top of the forest canopy and down again, and Alex stayed snuggled against my hip. At the tiny roller coaster, I got worried that Alex would be thrown forward in his seat, so I had them stop the ride to let us off. Jonathan insisted on finishing the ride alone and did fantastic. Some of the grownups who rode got off looking pretty green, but Jonathan hopped down with aplomb and came over for a high five.

There's no more dancing chicken, who must have given up the ghost in his little vending-machine cage a long time ago, but there was a pony hitched to a metal wheel for pony rides. Jonathan held on tight to the saddle horn and pointed out that the pony lacked seatbelts. Both boys climbed all over the play structure, with Alex shouting "Lide! LIDE!" in frustration that he couldn't navigate the ladder up to the largest slide of all. We also "panned for gold" by sluicing sand to get some little chips of colored stone.

After a takeout picnic from Panera Bread (which inspired half the park to leave to go get some for themselves) and a train ride through Storybook Lane, it was time to go. I offered to get Jonathan a special treat from the gift shop, and he chose a bag of M&Ms. The boys shared them as we drove home, falling asleep only two minutes from the house. Jonathan was so tired he curled up in the laundry pile as soon as we walked in. However, we all smelled like goat and grime, so I insisted we all hit the showers. After a thorough scrub, neither Jonathan nor Alex was willing to nap much. They're both sacked out now directly after dinner - but first they had to tell Chris all about their adventures.