Last week, after a late start and a food truck lunch with Matt, we went to a state park just outside of town, because that park has what may be the kids' favorite thing ever: a creek. There are loads of hiking trails at this state park, but all we ever do there is hike down to the creek, play until the children are filthy, wet, and exhausted, and then hike back.
It's ample fun for a field trip day:
 |
| The kids brought their butterfly nets and a large Mason jar, and this day's fun activity was pestering minnows. |
 |
| And pestering a few snails, too... |
This was an especially restful field trip after an especially stressful week that I'd had, and I benefited greatly from turning my phone off, forcing myself to breathe deeply and untense my shoulders, and then pulling a book out of my pack and lying like a lizard on a flat rock all day, reading and taking photos and watching my kids play.
This week's day trip to the Children's Museum won't be quite like that, as I'll instead come home with a headache after a noisy day in the museum and an hour's worth of traffic on the way home, but the kids will love it just as much, of course, just as they'll love next week's TWO day trips to Louisville (to see Nina and Pinta replicas!) and the Indianapolis Zoo.
But after that, the week after next, we're 100% spending another day in the woods. Lizard Momma needs her clean air and flat rock!
I love the photos! And mama lizard sounds fantastic. I hope to find a place like that for us at some point.
ReplyDeleteI had grand plans to get out this week, because we so badly need some nature therapy around these parts. Only problem is, the air quality here is "very unhealthy" per the Montana Department of Environmental Quality due to all the smoke from wildfires. Just taking the dog out to pee makes our eyes burn. We are really hoping it will rain soon to bring down some of this smoke and ash.
Oh, no! You can't be a lizard momma without clean air!
ReplyDeleteWe've got a surplus of day-long field trips next week, and then the next week I might find myself lizarding in bed for a few days. Clean air is wonderful, but so are clean sheets and good books!
We decided to throw caution to the wind and head out to the little pond that is here on base. I love watching my kid ignore the flying bugs that normally terrify her to get a good shot of a bird she has wanted to photography for a while now. Nature therapy is so amazing.
ReplyDelete