After the kids were done with dance today and Lincoln had returned from his basketball game, I mopped the floor and Lincoln mowed the lawn so we could have the rest of the day to get out and enjoy the gorgeous day. It was perfect. The temperature was in the mid 50s, the sun was shining, and the leaves were splendid. We headed down to our favorite local state park- Yellowstone Lake- and took a mile hike along the lake and marsh then through a bit of the forest. The pictures I took don't begin to do it justice. It was glorious. The smell of crisp autumn forest was all around us and the air was full of milkweed and cattail fuzzies on their journey to fertile soil. The kids were happy and frisky, trotting along busting open milkweed pods and crunching leaves under their feet. Kennedy helped me gather dried weeds for a display and proved to have a good eye for finding perfect specimens.
They were throwing leaves into the air for the photo but I snapped too late.
Check out the long, thick plant Kennedy is carrying. Beautiful, and the stem is completely hollow. Julia gathered some to make into flutes.
See the milkweed fluff in the air? If you click on the picture it should enlarge and you will be able to see the detail better.
My brood checking out the lake.
Kennedy bursting open a milkweed pod.
Jesse using a flimsy weed as a walking stick.
Julia with her milkweed and hollow stem collection.
We stopped at a playground on the way home. It's amazing to see our family growing and changing. We are now at a stage where all 5 kids can just run around and do their thing at the playground. Jesse ran and climbed and slid down the slide. Renie got herself into a couple predicaments, but what's new, right?
I know this one of Devon is kind of blurry, but I like the effect.
Here Kennedy is pretending she's Nacho Libre on his motor bike.
Julia the monkey was the first kid in the family to master the monkey bars.
Jesse doing his independent thing.
2 comments:
The kids are so cute. It's wonderful when they all are still little.
Reading/remembering your blog makes me excited to think about what it will be like to be past the 'reproduction' stage of motherhood and onto just 'motherhood'! (Of course with only two plus one in the oven I've still got a ways to go! Which is good.:)
And the weather looks beautiful there! What we wouldn't give to move to a small town in the rural northwest where (like the midwest) there is four distinct seasons and more animals than people. :) Someday!
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