A New Vista

One full week later and I think the strep is finally behind us.  We're still a wee bit draggy and we all have a mild, lingering cough.  But for the most part, all are well in our family.  We decided to venture out into this beautiful Saturday afternoon to explore a new vista in hiking.

Bennett and Ainsley enjoy hiking, but sometimes they need a little kick in the pants to get them out the door and enthusiastic.  Our tool of bribery is Corn Nuts.  "Hey, girls!  Let's go hiking!  We'll buy you some Corn Nuts..." (stated in a sing songy voice)...works every time!

We picked up some Corn Nuts and headed out to Grandpa C's family's tree farm.  We had heard tale of this farm but we'd never been there before.  It was pretty cool.  Here is Dad and the girls in the pine forest.  It reminded me of Colorado.  If only.

We love hiking because it allows us to be nature detectives.  We saw several cool "mysteries" on our hike today.  We found lots and lots of animal tracks.  There were probably four or five different types and they were all right in the same area.  Ainsley thinks there must have been an animal stampede in that spot as all of the animals rushed to the pond for water.  Maybe, Ains!

 We saw the remains of a deer, scattered all about.  It was fun to think of different scenarios to explain how it's bones got to where they were.  The best scenario centered around a bald eagle fight over the bones, which explains several mysterious black feathers we found near the deer.  Nature will just keep you guessing!

 We hiked back to a lovely pond.  It was pretty big and Dad started dreaming of how Grandpa C. should put a little cabin beside it.  We always have big dreams for Grandpa. 

And here is a photo of Bennett's head gear of choice today.  Interesting.