Neighborhood Walks

There is one thing that I miss the most about our old house. It was right next to a neighborhood entrance to a biking/running/walking trail that was about a 1 mile loop with a playground right at the halfway point. Awesome, right? I used to stroll Ethan along that trail all the time when he was a baby. It was so peaceful and the playground was just a bonus. As he got older, he really enjoyed it. But we moved from that house right after he turned one. 

Walking around our current neighborhood with a 2 year old and a newborn just wasn't the same as the walking trail and I missed it so much. It was nicely shaded, there was a lot of nature to look at (once we saw a snake...which I'd like to forget), and I imagined the boys riding their bikes on the trail when they got a little older so they wouldn't be in the street. Can you tell I still miss that trail? 

But, as recently as the beginning of this year, I've come to see just a little magic in our neighborhood walks. Of course we still go walking even though it's not as ideal as I would like. But the boys don't mind. They just like getting out and running and finding/seeing new things. Seeing the neighborhood through their eyes gives me new perspective. Not that I don't like to go to more nature-filled spots every now and then, but sometimes a walk around our block is just what we need. 

Like this morning, when the weather was just perfect. After my workout, we hit the sidewalk. I always let the boys choose which way to turn and they love that. They sometimes pretend they are following a map. They both say, "fire hydrant ahoy!" when they see a fire hydrant, and then they run to it. We stop for sticks, acorns, slugs, bugs, and leaves. Sometimes they bring their buckets to collect them, but this morning they were bucket-less. They talk to birds, squirrels, and rabbits if we happen to see them. They practice stopping and looking both ways before crossing the road. They enjoy getting their shoes wet in puddles and on dew-dropped lawns and then making foot prints on the sidewalk. They wave at ALL of the cars that pass.

How is that not magical? Especially when I realize that they will not always be so fascinated with these things or make such fun out of a walk around the block.

We took this photo with the timer. Logan kept standing up at the last minute so his head is chopped off. Mickey and Gallop, the horse, joined us on our walk today.

Big Bro ready to go.

Little Bro running to catch up to us since he was being a stinker and refusing to come with us. (But, when we leave, he always follows.)

Holding hands to cross the "street."

Running just because...

First fire hydrant spotted.

I have no idea what is happening in this photo. No idea.

Getting shoes wet in the freshly watered grass.

Making footprints with wet feet.

Found a small puddle! Not too small to enjoy.

Fire hydrant #2.

This tri-colored leaf went into Ethan's "collection," which is a bucket in the back yard of things he finds outside that he wants to keep. The acorns pictured above went in there too.