Hiking at the Refuge

A couple of weeks ago (back when the heat was a bit more tolerable) we wanted to get out of the house and do something outdoorsy with the dogs.  We've passed by the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge dozens of times, as it's right near the airport, but we'd never been there yet, so we decided to try it out, and I'm glad we did!

There was quite a bit of wildlife, starting with this cute little toad.

Izzy was all hoppy skippy jumpy in the beginning

She loves acorns...especially filling her pockets with them to bring home (which I frequently find in the washer :)

She was just a hair too tiny to really see anything, but that didn't stop her from trying :)

Such cute doggies!!!

You really can't tell what this is, but that's a tiny little hummingbird on the nectar ring (I didn't have a good lens for distance with me)

But I DID have a great lens for a macro of this bee :)

There were great trails that almost made you feel that you were in the middle of nowhere, except for every 5 minutes when one of these flew over.  Every.  5.  Minutes.

It really was a great place, and I'd highly recommend it.  There are a few other locations around the cities that are all a part of this refuge, so it looks like we've got some exploring to do!