The third walk: just kidding, it's a park

We found this place on Thanksgiving day. It's about ten minutes from our house, and it's surrounded by two baseball diamonds, a soccer field, and a short nature walk. We also went back on Friday and Saturday, because why not? On Friday it was very cold, and nobody had any mittens (except me), but Edie had kindly created a sock stockpile on the floor of the car. So everyone wore socks on their hands, which gave them great pleasure, and returned to the car still wearing them! A minor triumph! Also you might notice John's hat - it's a hat Edie got last year and it's John's current favorite. The pom-poms, you see.

And although I had forgotten socks, I did remember chocolates for the little bribes that keep things running smoothly.

Oscar in his Thanksgiving turkey costume, with feather headdress. 

Turkey feather? Nobody's saying.

Crazy nudibranch-type bug; very hard to photograph 

For his next trick, John will attempt the rubber bridge! Very scary! 

Peace of cake! Stairs for Edie? Not so much.

Oscar attempts the tire swing ladder:

Success!

Many swing options for John

 He is a pirate king!

Edie, brave turtle rider

In other news, Edie seems to have had an ear infection, and now that we're treating it properly she's started pointing at everything and is even saying "buh" and "guh", for "boy" and "girl". (Of course this is just a correlation but it's the kind of story parents have to tell themselves to move on with their lives.) So expect a few silly videos soon!

The second walk: Experimental Forest

Only Oscar had the day off on Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so Eric and I stayed home with him and made him go outside with us. We went on a little jaunt in the Experimental Forest - we had visited before with Mark and caught no Pokemon, and this time we had the presence of mind to look at the map and decide on a trail before we started hiking. We followed the blue blazes, along with some yellows. Oscar was extremely keen to shout out "Blue Blaze!" before anyone else. The woods were empty; we only saw a few crazed mountain bikers and two other walkers. So I didn't feel too bad about Oscar shouting away.

Once again the light was just beautiful, and we found a cove forest near a stream. I think these coves might be my most favorite. Both of the walks we've taken in the Experimental Forest have had trails that were more like Avenues through the trees, which also always makes me think of Anne of Green Gables with her "White Way of Delight".

Find the Vomit, win a prize!

Canopy avoidance

 A mom and her goofball.

 Bonus: fall mantis

Captain Underpants!

This girl hates hats but man does she love some couture headgear! Or maybe she was too exhausted from the day's outing to protest (see previous post). Also she loves danger (she is related to John, it turns out). And collecting things, and talking on the backwards phone (data not shown, although phone can be observed). 

I have been editing a paper all day, can you tell?

The first walk: Yellow Branch Falls

This is the walk we went on the weekend before Thanksgiving. In addition to beauty, we saw frat boys doing some kind of hazing event. They passed us on the way in, carrying a plastic bag full of goldfish. They passed us on the way out, sans goldfish, and now several of them were sporting luxury women's underpants over their blue jeans. They all looked suitably ashamed of themselves.

A minor point. The major point is that this was the walk of a lifetime. Something about the time of day and the air quality and the filtered light through the leaves made us feel like we were walking in Lothlorien. It was billed as a 1.5 mile hike, so 3 miles round-trip, but the way in felt like 4 miles and the way out like 0.5. That's what walking at a three-year-old's pace will do to you! We went so fast on the way out because the boys and Edie all had the privilege of being carried at the same time. And so we made it home before dark!

You may notice John's excellent fashion sense combined with his parents' excellent desire for him to stay warm. You saw his first attempt at an outfit for the day in the last post...

'Nuff said.

 Finally we made it! Cheeseburger!

And then we headed back.