Revenge of the birds

So a couple of Sundays ago, we decided to go out to the Great Salt Lake. I had never been before, and didn't realize how close we lived to it until one Saturday I was driving home, on the phone telling Erik which way he needed to go, and consequently missed my turning off the UT-201. I had to drive about 10 minutes before being able to turn around - and thus saw the sign for the Great Salt Lake.

Anyway, so I thought this would be a fun after-church activity -- a way for the kids to get out some energy and have a little adventure! Well, we got out to Salt Air. One word - STINKY! But we were there and so decided to hike (literally, about a 1/2 mile hike) out to the water edge. Along the way, we saw many picturesque things - dead birds in the sand, trash, salt, and the occasional seagull.

But we journeyed on, bread in hand. We finally got to the water and of course, the kids couldn't resist. Rylie hadn't been impressed with how dirty her feet had gotten on our "hike", so she welcomed the water, no matter how organism-infested, to wash her feet.

Our last part of the adventure was to feed the birds. We had only seen one or two seagulls circling, so we didn't know how much of our loaf would actually be consumed. However, when the bread started coming out, so did the gulls. It reminded me very much of the movie/book "The Birds". There were times when I thought we ourselves could be swallowed up by the hungry gulls. When the feast was done, however, Tyler had no problem telling them that (see video). If you listen closely, you'll even hear Daddy Hansen "ca-cawing" in his ultimate bird seagull impression.

At last our Great Salt Lake adventure was complete, and we hiked back to the car. Luckily, Salt Air provided a foot wash, which I believe Tyler and Rylie thought was the best part of the trip. They spent more time washing their feet and shoes than at the actual lake. Ah well, whatever makes them happy!