Ahhhh, the woods

I have no business blogging. We leave for MI tomorrow andI have lots of packing, errands, etc. to do. However, I needed to get on the internet to find a phone number and here I am! I just have to say, thank goodness for our nearby nature perserve. This weekend was a reminder of the calming power of nature. Although Cayla didn't experience any seizure activity this weekend, her mood was that of an orge - lots of screaming, tantruming grumpiness. And, Collin, who is a bit sick was not his usual cheery self. And Flannery set up camp at school this weekend to do a couple hundred hours of schoolwork. You see where I'm going with this.

We've done plenty of ocean walking and woods exploring in our year here. However, these are almost always day trips - hour(s) in the car, pack a lunch kind of things. The closeby playgrounds we frequent don't really have any trees or plants. However, if you recall last Sunday, Flannery found a very close nature preserve and that's where I headed at 8:30am on Sunday morning. And, it was lovely. Cayla make a "campfire" with sticks while Collin raked piles of leaves with his "stick rakes". We climbed rocks and logs and climbed into holes. The twins slid down the steep leaf covered ledges and wrote letters in the dirt with their walking sticks. Collin dragged around a "walking stick" for about 20 minutes that was 4 times his height and as thick as a baseball bat. We had a grand time. After a few hours we climbed back into the car. And Collin had a huge 'seat-belt-removing-tantrum' because Cayla had a scarf and he didn't. And Cayla ripped out her pony tails because she wanted something in her water bottle besides water and . . . . . . and I was reminded of the wonderful, calming power of fallen leaves and sticks and big rocks.

We are off to MI for a few relaxing (ha ha) days, so it may be a while until you hear from me again. Enjoy your holiday!!!!!!