Maple Tapping in Poynette

Yesterday was maple tapping day in a wildlife reserve about 25 miles north from here. It started at 8am but we didn't get there til around 10. The drive is great - it takes about 20 mins to get out of Madison and then it's farms all the way. Lots of tractor shops and combine harvesters around. A two-year old's dream outing. The reserve was busy Wisconsin-style, i.e. just pleasant. The only place where there were loads of people was in the very long queue for the pancakes so we skipped that part and went straight on to the tapping and boiling sections. Lucas enjoyed wandering through the woods and sticking his little finger into the maple sap (which doesn't taste like anything much at all). We teamed up with a friend from Lucas' daycare, then had the good fortune to chance upon a tractor so the next fifteen minutes were spent with Lucas clambering all over it while the farmer told me all about his ever-so-exciting trip to norhtern Norway for a snow-farming expo. (I have to admit I am fuzzy on the detail as I found it just a little hard to concentrate, thrilling though his tale was.)
The reserve is open all summer and has animals that are native to northern Wisconsin but which have either been born in captivity, or have been injured and can't go back into the wild. It's a great selection - coyotes, mountain lions, snow wolves and bobcats. Makes one glad for the fences. Lucas really liked the owl which he recognised from the Miffy books. (Go Dick Bruna.)
The highlight of the outing was the horsie-drawn cart, we all piled in and three Belgian workhorses (that factlet pleased my Dutch heart no end) pulled us all around the reserve. Lucas was fascinated by the horses so it's good to know that he has an occasional interest in things without wheels.
On the way home a friend rang to ask if we wanted to go to the zoo, and I stupidly thought that was a good idea. It was a lovely sunny day and I longed to be out more. Of course Lucas was way too tired and in spite of a short nap in the car just didnt have the energy for more entertainment. So he had one tantrum after another and it was all a bit stressful. I guess I should have stuck to the 'one outing a day' rule. Not sure if that is a rule but it ought to be.
Today I have to work (:-(), I organised a brainstorming day for our Faculty at the local country club, and will be dropping Lucas at his aunt's shortly. It is snowing again today. I am beginning to see what people object to in Wisconsin winters. They do go on a bit...