Free Flight Aviary: Take 2

My new playgroup was asking for suggestions for play dates, so I suggested the Free Flight Aviary in Del Mar. We had such a wonderful experience there when we went with our Rockin' Moms, that I was sure we'd have the same experience again.

I met up with two new mom's and their kids and we went in. Unfortunately, the handlers didn't even greet us, let alone, educate us on the different birds. Last time, we had a wonderful handler that brought out "kid-friendly" birds for the kids to see.

Leah holding the bird (sorry about the sideways movie!)

So we were left on our own to explore. Leah was just dying to hold a bird, so I tried to get an idea of which birds would do okay with her. I finally found one that was extremely friendly. But while Leah knew to hold her elbow up high, she let it drop and the bird shimmied up her arm. Because of his sharp nails, Leah screamed and the bird got into her hair! All this while the handlers sat and watched! Needless to say, we were done after that. We left with a very negative feeling towards the Aviary, which is a shame.