Outside Fun

It was such a nice day a couple of days ago that Andy and I decided to venture out with the girls to one of the parks here in town. I have been feeling bad lately because Sarah has never really been to a park. I have pictures of Emily and Eliana swinging at a young age, sitting at the bottom of the slide, and climbing up the playground steps. I was expecting a mass of people since it was so beautiful, but I guess we went at the right time because there were only a couple of other families there when we arrived. Emily and Eliana could not wait to show Sarah how to use all of the playground equipment. Sarah wasn't too sure about it at first, but was smiling at the end.







Andy showed Emily a huge black beetle walking around the ground. She took a piece of bark and picked the bug up, gaining the respect of a boy who was watching nearby.



Just after this shot was taken, I heard a scream and saw the piece of bark being tossed onto the ground. Apparently, the bug had gotten a little too close to her face.

More children started showing up, but the girls weren't ready to leave yet. They decided that we needed to take a hike on one of the nearby trails that leads through the woods. Emily assured me that she and I would be able to handle walking the trail in our sandals so we set off.

The trail wasn't that long, but it seemed to take a while because Emily had packed a backpack with three items: a pen flashlight, a piece of paper, and a marker. There are plaques located throughout the trail and her goal was to write down the names of all of the trees from the plaques as we walked along. She says she is going to make a book about them.



About halfway on the trail, we were attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes that followed us all the way back to the playground. Emily still wanted to write down the tree names and Eliana still wanted to run down into the gullies. All the while, Andy and I are swatting at mosquitoes that are buzzing all around our heads. I tried to keep them off of Sarah and thought I was doing a good job until I noticed three bites on her forehead while taking her picture the next day.



Emily and Eliana had bites on their foreheads as well. I have no idea why the mosquitoes were there. I kept looking around to see if we were walking by a swamp. I made a mental note to bring bug spray next time. We did finally make it back and left right away. I hope we will be able to make it back sometime soon to feed the ducks which will be another first for Sarah. I plan on making a morning trip to try to avoid any more bug problems.