Pictures in the Park

It's been a long while since we've had family pictures taken. Somehow it always seems like a thing we should do but never get around to. As the family picture-taker, it's not always easy to get picture of myself, but this weekend I decided it would be a good time to take some updated pictures of the kids. 

Although it is May, and things are starting to get greener, it's still a little early for too many blossoms. Still, a park is a good place for fun pictures. The park we went to has some little trees that the boys like to climb. They picked there to get their pictures taken. With the objective of happy faces, it seemed like a great choice!

They aren't super patient with being in front of the camera, but I managed to squeeze in a few good ones. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Then, as we were leaving, we walked by these logs on the ground that had some gorgeous, teeny flowers growing up all around them. They looked to me like fairy flowers:

Not a bad days catch!

Communing with Nature

During the last few months, my church worship has had some pretty dramatic changes; we haven't met as a congregation since March. Some areas are starting to venture back but, as far as I've heard, my area is not making any moves any time soon. So, as a family, we do our lessons, we read our scriptures and pray. Those things are great, but I also find that on Sundays, we tend to try to be outside more.

Nature is God's creation and I find great peace when I go out hiking, or stand near great bodies of water.. I love the fresh air and the time I have to appreciate this beautiful world of ours. Also, standing near big things that make me feel diminutive, often gives me pause and I think about my place in the grand scheme of things. Kind of like in this song.

This week, I had the chance to take the boys and meet up with some friends for a (socially distant) get together. It had been a good while since we'd hung out, so that was an exciting prospect. Plus, they'd been talking to me for a while about the joys of flying kites and I'd recently gotten me one and was eager to try it out! As it happened, the weather was right on Sunday afternoon and we seized the day. 

It was a great day for it. We'd finally gotten a break in our never-ending heatwave; it was still sunny but it was a nice temperature to be outside. The park wasn't very crowded, which was a relief. And, of course, that which brought us out - the lovely breeze. These folks are fond of flying kites and they had several they got going pretty quickly. 

While the kids held fast to their strings, my friends helped me get mine off the ground. I hadn't done much kite flying to this point but, happily, I'd been led right at the store and this kite caught the wind well and was nice and easy to get going. 

Kites are funny things. When you look at them, the colors are often garish and overly bright. However, when you get them up into the sky, and the sun shines through them.. it's a little like stained glass. And finding a good breeze is a little like fishing, not that I'm much of a fisher, but when you find a good current and your kite is sailing smoothly, it's calming and meditative. Standing, holding the string, back on the ground, you can watch the kite bob and soar, and it gives you a moment to appreciate the beauty around you, and take a moment to see the goodness in the now and, really, just contemplate lots of things.

While we were standing around, being contemplative, my friend and I chatted a while about how kites can be like faith or testimony. How you have to really be watching the kite, keeping track of the tension on the string, or else it will fall. Or how to you have to seek to find the good currents that take you up. And sometimes you kite will plop right down, but then you pick it up and go again. 

Anyway, it was a lovely afternoon; good friends, good conversation (even thought provoking), and the kids got to run and play. I came away feeling uplifted and fed.... and like I just might need to get another kite.

School's Out for the Summer!

Well, we made it. Our little kindergartner has survived the year!

On the last day of school they gave them a bunch of stuff to take home, but he was most interested in the bubbles.

As it approaches, summer always seems endless and full of countless possibilities. However, experience tells me that a little planning can go a long way (especially when coordinating bunches of peoples' schedules). So, we made a plan and, the very first day of vacation, we packed up and headed north! You know it's going to be a good visit when you rack up the bikes:

Lots of the family was able to head up to the parents' house that weekend. When there's lots of folks around, there's often a lot going on... but there's also plenty of quieter moments.

In all of the fun, one of the highlights was a family bike ride!! In recent years, Grandpa has gotten into biking and he knows all the fun trails up there, so we left it to him to plot the course. The plan was to ride from the house, to a local park to play for a bit and then head home again.

Once we all were saddled up, there was quite a group of us!

The path was a mix of roads and trails, with a few sidewalks thrown in.

The tires crunching on the gravel made a bit of noise, so I didn't see much wildlife, but I did manage to swallow a good sized bug...grooooooss.

And just when I was thinking I might have bitten off too much, we got to the park!

This park is an extra cool one, there's play equipment, and groves for cooking-out.. a river runs through it which is good for swimming, and there are also hiking trails.

Way way back when, my family used to live pretty near this park. My older sister and I used to ride our bikes there and explore all over. From the road the goes past the park, you can see a little island which is shaped like a heart.. one year, we wandered around until we found it! So, since there was so many of us siblings all gathered together, I thought it would be fun to wander and see if we could find the heart island again.

Grandpa had a general idea of a trail that might be the one that we were hoping for, and off we set. This park is one that was part of the New Deal projects, so everything is made with that same slate rock... it has a very definitive look (which I kind of love.) However, though it was a beautiful hike, there were SO, so many mosquitoes. Still, we pressed on (through the clouds of mosquitoes), and found the heart island!

It was totally worth it.

In all our wanderings, of course we hid some rocks but, also, we found a kindness rock!

We took it to the park to rehide, but it suffered a slight accident...

Happily, there was a hero among us and she ventured into the chilly, brown waters and retrieved the rock so it could be hidden again (only slightly worse for wear).

Eventually, it was time for us all to head home.

The group of folks who biked out again was slightly different; Townshend's tandem attachment to my bike got a flat, so we folded it up and tucked in the trunk and he rode home in the car. That meant I got to take a ride with nobody trailing me (a rare happening) and WOW it's so much easier to bike when you're not pulling a trailer! So, naturally, I used the extra energy to take a few extra pictures.

All in all, an excellent visit. Family time, and a bike ride. Good times good times.

Memorial Day Fun - Weekend

It's crazy to think that the school year is almost done and that summer is practically upon us! It seems like just last week we were whining about all the spring snow (happily, that seems to all be behind us now).

Though, unofficial, Memorial Day is really the beginning of summer. We try to do something fun that weekend, to kick off the fun. This year it turned into a very full weekend!

First, Saturday, we went to the conservatory. It was beautiful, as always! We checked out the flowers and played and took the train home.

We finished off the adventure with a stop at our local donut shop.

Then, Sunday we planted the patio garden.

And there was still time and sunshine, so we went for a bike ride. Of course, the destination is almost as important as the ride, so we worked in a visit to a new park with a playground and also a little water fall! (with some train spotting in between)

An excellent beginning. It's so fun that the boys are getting bigger and we're able to do more things! Bring on the summer.