Has anyone ever raised geese?

[Big Flounder]

My wife's grandmother had a goose hang out in her lake for years and it played with the kids all the time. It would follow them all over the place and let them pet it and even chased the car when we were leaving. Well a few months ago mother goose disappeared and the kids cried for days. Don't know if she got killed or just relocated. Any way my wife gave in and went to a local feed store and picked up 2 white Chinese swan geese. I built a cage for them and also set up a lil play pen in the yard with a little pool in it. They spend a few hours a day in the pool and the rest in the cage. Now we have had them for 2 months and they are huge! It's time to release them but I don't know if we should carry them down to the lake or maybe just open their play pen and let them wonder off on their own. Hopefully someone has experience with these things cause I do not want to buy more! Thanks.