On Saturday my husband and I were invited by some good friends to join them at Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area for their Maple Madness. Despite the cold and drizzly weather we had a great time.When we first arrived we jumped in line for the wagon ride that took us up their sugar shack where the maple tree's are tapped and the syrup is made.
There they had a short trail you could take through the trees and they had set up different stations where you could see the different processes it took to make maple syrup.
After we checked out that we were getting pretty hungry for breakfast, and I can't think of a better place to eat pancakes than the Sugar Shack! We hopped in line and got our pancakes, hot of the grill, and poured warm fresh maple syrup all over them and grabbed a spot on the picnic tables and dug in. Those pancakes where DELICIOUS! 
After we got our fill of pancakes we headed back up to the wagon rides to hitch a ride back to the main building so we could hit up another trail and feed some chickadees. On the way to the chickadee feeding area we had to cross a wooden bridge the water was full of cattails. I love cattails so I decided to take the opportunity to take some pictures.
Once we got to the chickadee feeding area our friend Jordan stuck out his hand full of birdseed and waited patiently. Some of us were a little skeptical but Jordan had done this before and knew it was worth the wait. After a lot of waiting one little chickadee emerged from the trees and flew down into Jordan's hand.
Once we saw that we became believers and Kevin quickly grabbed some birdseed and stuck his hand up in the air.
Unfortunately the only chickadee we saw was the one that flew into Jordan's hand, but even just seeing the one made it worth while. We plan to go back again sometime soon when there is less going on. There were a lot of people around that day due to Maple Madness so I think if we were to go back on a quieter a warmer day we might have more luck. After that we headed back up to the main building to head home. But before we could leave we had to go up into the lookout to check out the view. Due to the bake sale that was going on that day the lookout was closed but since our friend Jordan had worked there the summer before he pulled some strings and we were allowed up. What a beautiful view. I can only imagine what it would look like in the summer when everything is green and in bloom.
It was such a great day I can't wait to do it again next year. If you haven't been I highly recommended it. It is a great fun for all ages. There is still time to check it out this year. Click here for details.
