Saturday, March 30, 2013

A Walk in the Woods

What is it about getting out into the woods that makes everything seem .. quieter ... more relaxed ... just plain better?

I don't have the answer, but I'm glad to live the results regardless.

Today we got the opportunity to make the short drive to an area state park. This park has long been one of my favorite places to visit. I spent many a summer day (& night) at this park growing up. Wonder Dad and I often found ourselves here when we were dating (& newly married) as well. This place is permanently counted as one of my "happy places" for certain.

And today we got to share it with Wonder Boy.

He's been here before, but it's been a number of years. I think he was 4 the last time we came. And he wasn't exactly thrilled to be here that day. But none of that mattered today.

Today we hit the trails as a family and all was right with the world.


This is the best time of year for anything "outside." It's not too hot, it's not too cold. That doesn't happen too often in Texas. Most of the year, if you want to enjoy this kind of activity, you have to get up really early to beat the heat. But in early spring like this, the weather is unbeatable! And even though we usually have a full itinerary on the weekends, I think we're going to have to work in a few more outings like this one.

I always enjoy being outside. Especially in a place so pretty. We got to see quite a few sights - we found a Luna Moth that looked like it had been run over by a mountain bike. It was so pretty. It broke our hearts to see it injured like that. But to find a silver lining - she probably would never have let us get so close if she hadn't been hurt. We saw this one old, fallen tree trunk that looked like it had been dipped in Clorox. It resembled a great ivory wand and it took my breath away. We saw (but got no photographic evidence of) a great brown jack rabbit. We pondered whether or not he was related to the Easter Bunny (this IS Easter weekend after all), but Wonder Boy dismissed us for the silly folks that we are as he hopped away from us. The Dogwood trees were in bloom and they left a beautiful carpet of white petals at their base.

But despite all of the eye candy to keep us occupied, it was the time with my guys that truly made the day for me. There is something really special about being in a place where you can run and laugh and tease and chat and not worry about anything other than the events of that one moment. I loved watching Wonder Boy run up and down the trail. I soaked up his lessons in seed dispersal (they've been studying just such things in science class as of late). And I held hands with Wonder Dad and watched our Boy having so much fun with us.

*sigh*

It's been a good day. One I intend to carry with my for quite some time. And I can hardly wait to do it again!

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