Zacchaeus: Day 4.... Climbing

I wanted to teach Molly how when Zacchaeus climbed a tree he could see more.  When we search for things, sometimes it helps to get a better perspective.  I thought about taking her to the playground and climbing the equipment, even climbing things in our house (but then I knew that would be a bad idea in hindsight....Molly on the bookshelf, Molly on the top of the couch...Molly on the sink....you get the idea.) 

I opted to take her and Sadie to a wildlife refuge about 10 minutes from my house.  My dad happens to be the most amazing bird and wildlife identifier I know, and it was extra special to have Pop pop come along for our adventure.

 

Molly and Pop pop with matching "adventure hats"

Our first stop was the look-out tower.  I told Molly, "We're going to climb the tower just like Zacchaeus! What did Zacchaeus climb?"  Molly answered, "A sycamore tree!  C'mon Pop pop!  Let's climb the tower!"  (Ah, sweet repetition pays off.  If only there were some sycamore trees around here.)

Climbing with Pop pop.

Almost there...

At the top!

Pop pop showing her some geese flying. 

A look through the telescope. 

 At this point, she didn't want to go down, but I asked her, "What did Jesus say to Zacchaeus?"  And she sang, pointer finger in the air, "Zacchaeus, YOU COME DOWN!  For I'm going to your house today...."  And then she wanted to climb down.

Ready with her 'nocs.

We got back in the car for the rest of our adventure to see some ducks and geese.  

An egret and black duck. 

Driving around the refuge.  You can see Atlantic City in the background.

Looking closer with her binoculars.

Snow geese. 

Shovelers.

We ended our day with a trip to Bagel Gormet where Molly got a bagel with pink strawberry cream cheese, and we visited Justin at school to deliver him a bagel for lunch.  It was a pretty excellent day.