This morning, Lela and Liv posed for a picture with our new tent. It is so big, that we think it can accomodate two queen mattresses! We are taking it for an Inagural Camping Trip in a couple days. It will be Laurel and Liv's first "official" camping trip, if you don't count the one night in the rent-a-tent at McDowell last fall.
Today our co-op had a field trip to Reedy Creek Nature Preserve. We met at the Nature Center, checked out their beautiful native plant gardens, then made our way towards the trail. There were pits for digging for fossils, and the kids played in there while we waited for everyone to show up.
We found this lovely large snail who obliged us to poke her head out, even a little bit more....
We wanted to avoid the trail that went towards the pond, but the kids would hear nothing of it. The older kids ran ahead a little ways - when we caught up to them, Lela was tearing through the undergrowth on all fours, chasing a huge toad! She finally caught him.
The kids worked through sharing the toad-find, and Lela was very possesive of "her" toad. Finally, she chose the perfect spot for him, between two trees on a bed of moss. Idyllic - - - on her hands and knees, she placed him in the grass......then....
"OH! A SNAKE!!" (quickly pounces to rescue the toad)
A black rat snake was right there, but she quickly made her way into the woods. Some of the kids got to see her. After a while, the toad was finally released, for good this time.
Finally at the pond, the kids wade a little.
We walked a bit further before plopping down on some benches and enjoying rations of cheddar bunnies, pretzels, mango and orange. There was more spashing in the water, and well, most everyone was soaked. I had extra outfits for my girls luckily! The saw some little fish and tadpoles there too.
It was a long hike back up the trail, with the little ones tired and very hungry. When you are slogging 50+ pounds of toddlers and a heavy basket, (or a 30+pound toddler and a 7 month baby-in-belly), you can feel like it just wasn't worth it, and it is easy to forget the magic of the earlier moments. Like when Lela ran to share her precious toad with a friend who had fallen. That spontaneous, freely sharing of a coveted thing was beautiful, and to see the compassion in your child is magic.
