With our school year complete, it's easy to get out of the house on the spur of the moment to enjoy an afternoon outing. Yesterday, we spent the morning working in the yard. Titus mowed, I trimmed, and we all searched for any dandelions that we may have missed previously. I ended up weeding the driveway and spraying treatment on it, as well as treating the yard for the spring.
After the yard work was complete, we finished our household chores and even washed the family van! With nothing left to do, it was obvious that a little fun was just what we needed.
We decided that it was such a nice day that we would like to have a picnic for lunch. So, we threw together a basket full of goodies and headed out to a local park. Even though it was last minute, it ended up being a perfect day for us. The weather was great and there was hardly any wind. As we noticed later, there wasn't even a cloud in the sky. We ate on our red and white checked picnic table cloth (that has ants right in the design). The menu included egg salad sandwiches, carrots, bananas, chips, and green punch to wash it all down.
After lunch, we took a walk on the paved path around the pond. We saw two huge turtles. Zeke was fascinated as one came over and stuck his big ol' head out of the water. It was as if he were saying "hello". We saw some fish (as the pond is well stocked so local residents can fish there) and lots of pond plants. This particular park has a few different sets of play equipment as well as a skate park, which we investigated. The favorite play spot was the cable "web" where the kids could climb and climb. It was made of heavy red nylon cable and connected with brackets every so often... it looked like a spider web. Zeke loved to say, "I'm Spiderman!". I couldn't believe how far up he could climb. Honestly, it made me a little nervous, but he was very careful and the older children were there to help him if he needed it.
Also at the park, we discovered that a house beside the park (near the tennis courts) had a bunch of hens and a rooster. We walked on the trail beside the tennis courts to get a better view. I thought I had heard a rooster crow while we were eating. It was fun to see them and especially nice to know that I wasn't imagining things.
After we returned home, the kids spent almost the entire evening outside. It's so good for kids to exercise and get some fresh air. I am grateful that my children like the outdoors. In fact... guess where they are right now??? I think we'll head out to another park here in little while!
So begins our outings that we so enjoy this time of year. It's good to get out of the house and have little adventures. Once in awhile, if you're creative, you can sneak something educational into your outings, too. I have a few of those planned over the next few months- but don't tell the kids.
Have a blessed day!
