When we woke up this morning, it was in the 40s with a projected high in the mid-60s. I knew we had to do something outside! Caleb chose to go to a nearby nature preserve and hike, which was just fine with me! Sadly, Daisy had preschool today, so she didn't get to come with us. Still, we had a lot of fun!
It was warm enough that we didn't even need jackets! Eli was so happy; for much of our first (1/3 mile) "hike", he pointed out every single bird he saw. "Burh! Burh! BURH!"
Caleb found a yak!
Okay, so it was actually a tree that he thought looked like a yak. We took a picture and sent it to Chris.
Our second "hike" was a hillier, 1/2 mile loop. Lily was a trooper, but she definitely got droopier the farther we walked. She was excited each time we found a bench!
(Also, can you tell it was Eli's nap time? He didn't succumb to sleep, but he definitely was tired!)
This is one happy boy!
(Side note: you guys, have I blogged about this yet? I can't remember. We aren't even two full weeks into the homeschooling thing, and I can already see a big difference in Caleb. He's just... happier. School doesn't always come easily, and some days it's a struggle to make him do his work. But he suddenly seems to be happy and thriving in a way he wasn't when he was in traditional school. We still need to figure out the academic stuff, but I feel like he left traditional school in a good place academically. We can afford to focus on his emotional growth for a little while. I am so, so thankful I chose to pull him when I did. I still don't know what we'll do in the fall, but I don't have to decide that yet.)
Lily climbed up on the side of this bridge and was quite happy with herself.
Caleb chased down a rare giant frog, wrestled it to the ground, and climbed on top. He is an excellent animal wrangler.
Just kidding. It's a statue.
After our two "hikes" (I keep using quotation marks because if two-year-old Lily could comfortable do them, you know they weren't too challenging), we went into the Nature Center. Eli's favorite part was the fish.
He has no concept of fish. He thought they were birds. At the time, I just thought it was funny that he kept saying, "Burh. Burh. Burh." But now as I look at the pictures, I get it. He doesn't know they're under water! It really looks to him like they are flying, just like birds.
I will forever look at fish differently now. They're really just underwater birds.
He loved them!
Sorry for the gratuitous pictures. You get the idea.
After we picked up Daisy, after lunch, after the little ones were down for naps, Caleb decided to make a birthday gift for Eli. We found a tutorial for how to draw a bird, and Caleb did several drafts before ending up with this image of a duck and its duckling, flying to their nest in a tree. Then he painted it with watercolors.
As he worked, Caleb asked me if - if he did a good enough job - his painting might become famous. We decided that if it was good enough, it might. However, he got frustrated that he couldn't make the watercolors be as precise as he wanted. In the end, he decided that it was just a birthday gift, so it didn't need to be perfect. Plus, being famous is a lot of work, and who really wants to deal with that?
I love his perspective.
Then Eli woke up, and the boys snuggled in my big bed. I might have enjoyed some snuggling, too. It was a good day.
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