lesson learned

we spent the weekend here w/ the in-laws. we spent our time doing fun stuff like swimming in their hotel pool & they took brooke for a horse & carriage ride around downtown.

tonight after dinner we decided to go for a walk around a park to try to burn off a few calories from the massive italian dinner we consumed in honor of their birthdays. there's a nice little duck pond where numerous ducks, geese & pigeons reside. brooke decided that she needed to chase a lone duck who was sitting on the bank minding his own business. she figured as soon as she got close he'd hop into the water with a lovely splash, but instead he started running & flapping along the edge of the pond. i thought he'd fly or jump if he was actually felt threatened, so i didn't try to stop her. she chased him for probably 20 feet & then stopped & turned back to return to the adults. it was then that we saw the hoodlums coming up behind her. two fat white ducks were charging toward brooke as fast as their shrimpy little legs could run, snapping their beaks & quacking at her like they meant business. she ran toward me, screaming at the top of her lungs and putting eveything she had into the run, but those ducks were still snapping at her heels. i had to move toward them & make loud noises to get them to stop attacking my terrified child. we went around a bend & walked a path parallel to the duck area & the whole time, the white ducks followed along quacking as if to say, "you better be glad these weeds are here or i'd be pecking your kneecaps bloody!"

brooke had a stitch in her side & was shaking with fright & adrenaline for a while afterwards. i thought it was all over until we walked back along the other side of the pond about half an hour later & as soon as they saw us, those same two ducks came running toward us at full speed again. brooke shrieked & shimmied up onto my back and then held her feet up so that the viscous ducks couldn't nip off her toes. my father-in-law stepped between us & them & one of them tried to bite his legs & shoes. it was pretty funny to see a duck taking on a large man as if they were equals. brooke kept yelling, "i learned my lesson! i'll never chase any of you again!"

it was a very funny ending to a very nice weekend.