Nature Walks

Andy and I sometimes joke that one can take a nice walk in New Jersey - you just have to drive to get there!

And so we did. There are a few hidden nature trails around us and we decided to take advantage of a couple of them.

Bella came prepared for some exploration. 

Curtis kept complaining of things getting in his shoes, so he rode like this for a while. 

Andy found some mushrooms growing on a branch.

It was at about this point that Bella started to lose interest.  She wasn't super enthusiastic about this nature walk in the first place since she was hoping we'd be spending the afternoon at the pool instead.  I think that some branches brushed against some old mosquito bites, causing her to get itchy.  Her mood wasn't the best for the next ten minutes or so.

She asked me to take her picture.  But this was the best smile she could come up with. 

There were caterpillars everywhere in this area!

And then something glorious happened.

We found water.

Andy did a little rock skipping lesson with the kids. 

Bella caught on quickly and was skipping rocks right away. 

I tried and tried and almost gave up until Andy showed me the right way to curve my finger around the stone.  Soon I was skipping rocks too!

Curtis needed to be banished off to the side.  He liked to throw his rocks while standing several feet from the water; often times coming dangerously close to hitting someone.  He did hit Graydon once. 

I don't know how he does it.  Graydon purposefully took off his shoes.  He was even running on the rocks at one point.  Those are some tough feet. 

And what do you know. . . Bella got her water after all. 

A couple of days later, we tried a different spot.  No pictures taken except this one from my phone.

But I did pick some wildflowers to remind me of our day and bring a little of the nature to our house with us. 

And while I'm trying to hold onto every last bit of summer, there are little reminders all around that fall is just around the corner. 

Cell Phone Pics!

Bella's first soccer practice of the season. She plays her first game this Saturday morning.

Preschool orientation for Graydon.  I think he's more ready than I am!

One morning all three kids ended up in our bed.  We'll have to get a bigger bed if this becomes a regular occurrence!

We got to Barnes & Noble just in time to miss storytime.  No problem.  I got a coffee for myself and a cookie and rice krispie treat for the kids to split.  They looked through books while I glanced through a magazine.  Fun morning for all of us!

Curtis after he just shoved two cherry tomatoes in his mouth.  They taste so good straight from the garden.  The boys pop them like they are candy. 

We were invited to a picnic at the home of a woman who we had just recently met.  She mentioned that she had a pool, but I didn't feel like bringing all of our suits and getting in the water around a bunch of people we didn't know too well.  Plus, neither of the boys can swim on their own.  It can sometimes be a lot of work for Andy and me.  Besides, we have spent many an afternoon at the pool this summer.  But I seriously underestimated how much our little lady would want to get in that water.  With our permission, she went swimming in her clothes!

Grocery shopping is much easier with two of them contained and one pushing the cart. 

It gets worse before it gets better.  This was some serious back-to-school wardrobe sorting.  Bella tried on every pair of pants and 'yayed' or 'nayed' every article of clothing that she had.  Glad that's done!

Our morning plans were rained out, so we settled in for popcorn, rootbeer floats, and Pocahontas. 

This is a spohr print of a mushroom that Andy found. Mushroom hunting: Andy's new hobby.

Graydon made himself a new hat. He is loving all of this manilla paper.

Savoring Summer

The calendar was racing to the end of August.  Many kids in other areas were already back to school.  But as far as we were concerned, summer hadn't left yet. . . and we wanted to savor every drop of it.  No better place to do that than the shore!

Bella and Graydon went out looking for shells and sea glass with "Miss Jane".  Jane has a home on the island and invited us to visit.  The kids love her and we do too.   

Curtis spent the first hour on my lap, buried under a towel.  The wind was a bit strong at times, blowing sand all around.  He didn't like that.

Bella ended up digging a pretty deep hole.

Graydon and Andy saw a seal! (Not pictured.  I didn't end up seeing it).

Eventually Curtis left his little cocoon.

We just love days at the shore.