Nature Walk with Rachel

I love taking nature walks with my kids but I especially love going with just Rachel.  When Nicholas and Rachel are together, Nicholas just automatically takes charge and Rachel follows.  But when it is just Rachel and me, I can let her lead the way.  Plus I love the quality time Mommy-Daughter time with her.

Today we went looking for clovers while Stuart and Nicholas were at a Trail Life meeting.

We spent some time in the clovers but decided to keep walking towards the playground at the end of the street.  Rachel found some cool things along the way like a face on a tree, a cardinal, and an ant pile.

Once we got to the playground, Rachel, as always, ran straight for the swings.  She absolutely loves swings!  However, she still loves to have me give her a push on them even though she can swing entirely on her own if she tries.  But she is only little once so I comply.  But today she actually wanted to get in the little toddler swing!  I asked her if she thought she might be too big for that kind of swing.  She thought about it for a while and informed me, "No, I'm not too big.  Just trust me.  I can do it."

But I didn't even have to argue about it because she couldn't climb up into that swing anyway and I wasn't about to pick her up and try to squeeze her in it.

So she got on a regular swing and had a blast!

She played on the monkey bars....

But she still can't do them by herself so she mostly just stood there thinking about it.

She played on the tunnel slide.  She LOVED it when I tried to catch her at the bottom of the slide.  It made her squeal and crawl back up the slide to get away from me. :)

She came up with stories for us to act out as we climbed around on the playground equipment.  First we were in her house and she was showing me around.  Here she was on a rocket going up into outer space.  I love her imagination but some of this wouldn't have happened if big brother were here because she would just be playing which ever game he came up with.

We wandered back into the little wooded creek area.  This is my favorite place to go in our neighborhood.

As we walked up to the creek, Rachel was quick to start telling me all about the things she noticed in it.  I don't know if she would slow down enough to do this if she were busy keeping up with big brother.  Don't you just love the hand on her hip?

Checking out the ripples in the water and watching the leaves flow down the creek.

The great outdoors is the best place for kids.  They get to explore, use their imagination, get fresh air and exercise all while having fun!

Again, she was pointing things out to me that she saw.  She even has the "Vanna White" hand motions as she talks.

And what kid can resist a stick.  Sticks are the absolute best toy for kids because they can be ANYTHING that a kid can imagine it to be.

I'm cherishing this nature walk with my sweet little girl.  What a special time we had, just the two of us!