Smooshy, sweet piles of cuteness

You know, we never really have problems with squirrels. And we don't see them too much, except for Spring and Fall when their young emerge from the nests.
They are a form of amusement for us, though I know some people have a Hell of a time with them breaking into bird feeders and keeping dogs busy.
The only mammal who has raised my blood pressure is the raccoons who visit most nights. They have carried off very expensive peanut feeders and I have only found one so far, rusty and battered in the weeds.
This is as good as it gets with our squirrels:
The Squirrel Olympics!

"Look! No hands!"

Lorelei and I took a break from my trip planning to go to Symmes Park again.


Raccoon tracks

We enjoyed the splash-down of some Canada geese (they are freakin' everywhere, aren't they)...

...and admired the glossy purple of a mallard's head...

...and some sweet, sleeping parents?
Across the pond, I saw some movement...

Four baby ducks! And check out the colors: Two yellow, one brown and one brown/yellow!
Total mutts, but cute mutts, nonetheless. I can only assume that the pair of adults across the way were the parents, but why were they not over here with the young?

Those stubby wings...hard to imagine that someday soon, those little stubs will be able to hold that bird aloft. The largest one kept falling into the water and scrambling back out.

I couldn't help it. I had to hold one. And Lorelei was in transports of delight, being able to actually touch a real live baby duck. I was surprised how smooshy they were. I expected a firm ball of duckness, not mashed potatoes.
We put them back and wished them well. When I picked up Isabelle and told her what we found, she was rather insistent that Geoff take her to see them after supper. That's where they are right now, wallowing in the cuteness and baby duck fluff.