I like to write a first day of school post. Since we’ve been at it since July, I guess I need to do that. A couple of weeks ago, we started back up our full load. The first week was tough, but everyone had a good attitude most of the time.

I decided one day during our second week of school we needed to get outside and explore.

I drove across town to a local park. It is a place I spent many nights playing softball for a local league, and a place where I remember many church picnics taking place.

It was the creek I remember from those picnics that beckoned me on this particular day.

The Creek was not like I remember. Could it really be that much smaller? I suppose with all of the SUN we’ve had this summer (e.g. no rain in more than 6 weeks; longer for some), it truly could be that much smaller.

We did find some LIVING creatures though among the DEAD. Water striders must be very hearty creatures. Crayfish notsomuch.

So this day of nature walking didn’t yield a ton of results in the animal searching, but it did accomplish a secondary goal of mine.

Someone, who isn’t into getting his tennis shoes wet or picking up fish, discovered walking across a trail of cut logs strategically laying in the creek could be really fun … and challenging.

And yielded an opportunity for biggest brother to cheer on and support little-est brother as he cautiously made his way across, following in biggest brother’s footsteps.

And all 5 of our children quit bickering (did I mention they do that?), used their imaginations to make up a game, played outside despite the 98˚ temperature on the thermometer, and they drank a WHOLE LOT of water!

How’s that for camouflage for this little guy Li’l Miss found on the very large and very old tree (and was wider across than our 5 standing side-by-side)?

We try to do nature walks every week, but it doesn’t always happen. I am hopeful a couple of new avenues we’ve discovered will yield more opportunities for nature walking with others. I like to go, but it would be nice to have some companions for the companionship and for safety’s sake.

This year, we have gravitated much more toward a Charlotte Mason approach to the education of our children. She felt being outside and studying nature in its natural form is very important for a child’s development and education. I couldn’t agree more.