Meandering Through Maymont

On Friday we were supposed to meet up with our cousins to play, but my sister-in-law was sick so we did a quick change of plans and headed to Maymont instead! (You can see our visit last year with Charmin here- check the end of it for a really neat fairy house!)

This time around we parked over by the Nature Center and so we took a back way to the Children's Farm and passed by the bison on the way in. Tyson liked that his name rhymes with bison. :-) Tyson the bison!

Check it out! Another LOVE sign!

Here the kids check out the kids- goats, that is!

Taking a break before heading down the hill toward Raptor Valley.

Do you have bobcats in Australia? We had a lot of them when I used to live on the mountain- I had a neighbor who trapped and killed them.

Gray fox!

The Red-Tailed hawks were kind enough to pose in front of their sign.

The bald eagle looking as regal as ever.

Koko stops to find out more about our national bird.

Richmond is located on the James River, and this sign tells a little bit more about bald eagles' habitat here.

Next we checked out the black bears- they were too far away for us to see them very well, but we got a pic of the sign so you can learn more about them.

After we passed the black bears we got closer to the Japanese Garden, which meant that Tyson and Audrey disappeared into the extensive bamboo forest. Charlotte explored with them for a little while, then she came back out to be with Teeny and Koko and me. Here they are in front of the waterfall in the Japanese Garden.

And here they are on the newly remodeled bridge!

Koko and the cascade (we took this photo near the top).

Here he is meditating, feeling very zen...

This is on the outside of the Italian Garden, which is at the top of the hill above the Japanese Garden (you can check out last year's post to see the stairs we had to climb to get up there)! Audrey was hot, so she's pouring water on her head.

4 kids on a bough- can you spot Koko? (Hint: he's hiding!)

From the Italian Garden we made our way to the old mansion. From there we could see across the park to the Nature Center (that building on the hill through the trees) where we had parked. 

Time for a HIKE! 

Back at the Nature Center Koko checked out this neat model/map of the park. He is sitting on top of the Nature Center there in the back corner, and the red roofed-building on the left is the Children's Farm. The pond on the lower right is at the black bears' habitat, then if you follow the river up to the right corner that's where the Japanese Garden is. That cluster of buildings just to the left of that (just under Tyson's right arm) is the area where the Italian Garden and the mansion is. We basically made a counterclockwise loop around the park. Whew!

We hope you've enjoyed seeing some of our native animal species in this post. :-)