Summer Fun With the Kids

Remember back at the end of June when I talked about going out in nature and spending time playing with my kids? I was going to hit a few local hot spots for nature and I had it all planned out. Remember?

Well guess what. Here we are at the end of July and there has been no nature for us. Nope, nada, zilch, zero! Time just seemed to get away from me. The weather has been crazy. Most days have been unbearably hot and when it cooled off a bit it was because we had some severe thunderstorms rolling through.

Even when the weather was good, we were busy with Dr. appointments, orthodontist appointments, daily baseball games and there were just days where we just watched the time slip by. It's crazy how that can happen even when I have it on my calendar each week.


Guess what? It's over! I hit Mother Nature with my 2 youngest boys and it was great. We stopped off at the Fox River after a Dr. appointment yesterday. Yay! We did it!

We walked along the shore exploring the bugs,

the trees,





and the plants.

We talked, we walked arm and arm. I taught them things about life and nature and of course composition and taking unique photographs.

It was one of the best days I had this summer. I was in the moment with them. They were in the moment with me. I loved hearing the excitement in Aidan's voice with each new bug he discovered as much as I loved watching Liam walk gently through the grass being careful not to let a bug land anywhere on his body.


The thing is that they loved it. We didn't DO anything. There was no plan, there was nothing that had to get done. We were just walking, talking, and observing. Liam must have told me about 7 times how much he liked it. He pulled my arm around him as we walked and when it was over and we piled back into the car Aidan was the first to say, "Thanks Mom." What can be better than that?