Leaf Hunting

WHAT?!!! I have a blog? Apparently I had forgotten! Life has been busy. And I've been adding too many phenomenal blogs to my Google reader and now I need to pare down. There are too many gifted bloggers out there! Like this little excerpt from Mylestones, "...the thunder and wind drummed up the leafy marching band and swirled into an unrehearsed formation of autumn paisley." What a creative and poetic thought process! My head would implode if this kind of word picture came from my own thoughts! I am a simple girl with simple thoughts and speech. I would love to be able to write in such a manner, but that is not where God has gifted me. I need to remind myself of this when I start to think my posts need to be eloquent and inspiring before I allow myself to post them.

So, without further ado...

I've been trying to make an effort to do more involved activities with the kids. I tend to be a home body, but I want them to have a fun and active childhood filled with good memories. So, I am making the effort. I want to be able to look back on my ventures of being a mom with no regrets, so I'm busting out of my cozy comfort zone and trying to plan something every 10 days to 2 weeks. Nothing spectacular... just togetherness outside of our normal routine.

A couple weeks ago I took the kids to a local nature reserve to go hiking and leaf hunting. Our goal was to find leaves we could press between sheets of wax paper. The kids loved the walk and it was all I could do to make them turn around to head back to the car. In total I think we hiked close to 4 miles! The leaves were still too green, but it was a beautiful walk. (We went leaf hunting a few days later in our neighborhood and found some gorgeous specimens.)

Here are some pics:

Enjoying the river

Looking all around for the perfect leaf.

Possibly the biggest tree I have ever seen. I had the kids
stand next to it for perspective, but it still doesn't do it justice. HUGE!

Peaceful!

Beautiful variations of color on a fallen tree.

And our productive leaf hunt a few days later.! Cold and rainy, but fun!

Hope you enjoyed the update and next time I won't stay away so long!