Winter Morning

Unless the weather is truly awful we usually stop by the park on the way home from tumbling class on Wednesday mornings.  For the past few weeks the kids have had to wear their mud boots but today we wore some mittens instead!

The world in black and white can be quite beautiful, especially when snow is fresh and frosty.  And around here we have to grab the opportunity to enjoy the snow flakes because we don’t get too many of them and in fact by mid afternoon the snow had completely disappeared and so I’m glad we seized the opportunity for this while we had it.  The kids were so excited about the snow.  It brightened some grumpy spirits this morning as children made this snowy discovery and word spread through the house that it WAS snowing.  Nathan told me it was beautiful… and he was right.

Kaitlyn and Nathan came tumbling eagerly out of the van once we got to the park.  Nathan actually agreed to wear his mittens and in fact kept them on for about half the time we were there.  Kaitlyn didn’t mess with them for long.  She wanted to feel the snow on her hands and Nathan soon followed suite.

This nature preserve is land donated to the county from a family who once lived in this home seen in the background of the left hand picture.  The home was built in the 1830’s and is now a little shop to help support county parks.  I love both the outside and the inside of this home  and well, I wouldn’t mind living in this home.  This park is right in the middle of everything and yet it feels like you temporarily go back in time while you are here.  It’s hard to believe the surrounding area was once this beautiful too.  And it is beautiful whether it’s spring, summer, fall or winter.  Each season has it’s own enchanting beauty.  On the right Nathan is in the background running away from me.  Kaitlyn is at the foot of a sculpture she likes to climb in the butterfly gardens.

Nathan climbs the bench in the gazebo looking out to the woods from the butterfly garden.  We spy a bird house there in the woods.  And Kaitlyn remembers a picnic we had at this table once upon a time.

 

She and Nathan are clearing the table of its snow just in case someone comes out for a picnic today.  They are laughing at the snow sticking to mittens and getting on their coats and are having a wonderful time in general.

We took a dirt path off of the paved one that goes through the woods.  A little stream runs under the bridge there on the left.  Sometimes we pretend that trolls live underneath it.  And we found ducks in the pond again today!  Last week there were three ducks in the pond along with several turtles sunning themselves.  That was the day we had the windows open though.  No turtles today!

The maple trees are just now being tapped in preparation for Maple Syrup Days coming up in a couple of weekends at the end of February.  We crossed paths with a large wheelbarrow carrying tin buckets and we got to watch the man drill and tap a tree and hang the bucket.  Nathan thought he’d try it on the next tree he saw using a stick.  He had the right idea.  Kaitlyn asked me why they were tapping the trees and she made the observation that they must be just looking for only maple trees then.  I told her that was correct and a very good thought.  The kids got to peek into the bucket and we talked about maple syrup for pancakes coming from a tree.

The stream under the bridge and through the woods looked especially beautiful with it’s snowy black and white contrast.  The children enjoyed making tiny snowballs with their bare hands and tossing them into the water to look like little ice cubes.  Kaitlyn, having tumbled for the better part of an hour followed by a playful snowy walk for an hour was ready to go home for some hot soup and a rest.  Nathan was ready too as his mittens and hat had long since pulled a disappearing act.  We had a wonderful morning meandering the snow kissed trails of this park.