On the days that the kids are home, we start our day with a morning walk. This serves several purposes--to get energetic boys outside and moving first thing, to make sure the dog gets a walk, and to make sure I do to!
We are blessed with a wonderful place to walk--around the 40 acre lake in the middle of our neighborhood. Throughout the year, we see wild turkey, bobcat, deer, moose (!), mountain lion and bear. Sadly, to me at least, we haven't actually laid eyes on a mountain lion or bear yet but our neighbors on the lake side see them frequently.
In the fall, the level of the lake is drawn down. It's a reservoir for irrigation water for those below us and this time of year means less water everywhere. Now that the lake is low, much more of the rocky shoreline is exposed. There's a little slough that is now empty of water and we like to walk down it, out the the lake. When we walked out yesterday, we discovered a few cairns or stone statues. The kids were captivated and we started to build. We probably spent an hour searching for the perfect rocks, balancing, toppling and rebuilding. I was so grateful to have the time to take this lovely detour, to have no need to rush the kids on, and to be able to sink into the joy of building and discovery with them.
A slide show of our creations is below.
