Okay so maybe that isn't the actual name of a "Peppa Pig" episode, but it at least sounds like the title of an episode. Gabby's favorite show is "Peppa" and I told Mike about one when day Gabby found a piece of toy bread that looks exactly like the french bread Peppa is always feeding the ducks in her show and she was feeding it to her rubber duck. The moment I told Michael this we decided that it was necessary to get the exact type of bread and take Gabby to feed ducks.
Sunday was finally the day! The sun was shining and the weather was perfect so I told Michael I wanted to take Gabby to feed ducks. We picked up 4 small loaves of french bread and Michael found the perfect place to feed ducks. There were literally probably around 50 ducks in all.
On the way to the duck pond Gabby watched all of the Peppa episodes (we downloaded them and put them on the portable DVD player) where Peppa feeds ducks to get her extra excited. (Yes I know we are awesome/nerdy parents). Gabby started getting antsy along the way so we gave her one of the loaves of bread and she snacked on the duck bread until we arrived at the pond.
Michael chose the perfect place for a first interaction with ducks: we laughed, we cried, and we quacked like ducks. Gabby chased ducks (that were not afraid of people) and yelled "mere ducks" while chasing them or throwing half loaves of bread at them. We tried to show Gabby how you tear small pieces of bread and throw them in the water to feed the ducks. Gabby thought this was a great idea and threw half a loaf into the water at the duck. Obviously we took over the portioning of the bread or we would have been done feeding the ducks after 8 throws.
We laughed: Gabby got to feed ducklings from her hand which was adorable and I have video of. Gabby was admittedly faster than we expected. She segregated one baby duck away from its sibling and mother with a planned abduction (lucky for the duck we were not interested in a pet). Eventually we got Gabby to chase the duckling back toward its mother and brother.
We cried: Once Gabby was a "pro" at feeding ducks we crossed a bridge and found a "papa" duck. Gabby had the second to last small piece of bread and she stuck her hand out and "papa" duck took it from her hand and grazed her finger. Gabby laughed but then I made a comment to Mike that I would probably be scared to let the duck take food from my hand Gabby started to cry and she needed a "band aid" because "papa" duck gave her a "bobo." (She was fine after 30 seconds). She fed "papa" duck the last piece of bread without hesitation.
We quacked: During our attempt to coax Gabby to leave, we found a flock of ducks and Gabby went up to them. These ducks were not pleased to meet us (I suppose because we were out of bread) and so they started quacking at us and waddling away. We of course quacked in response so Gabby would understand that that is the sound we are imitating when we say "the duck says quack." (Again I know we are nerds, but Gabby is lucky to have such nerdy parents or her life wouldn't be as exciting)
After seeing a mommy duck and her 9 babies and about 10 turtles we finally called it quits and convinced Gabby to leave by promising her chips and ice cream, healthy I know! But we had a wonderful day visiting with the ducks and then having a wonderful Mexican lunch that Gabby approved of.
I would say our $1 investment in bread and a visit to the duck pond equaled one of Gabby's favorite days of her life (and of ours). The best dollar I have ever spent.
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