Into the wilds

 Last week we decided to explore a little more of our backyard.
 Down at the bottom of the hill, just past where Canaan had his adventure on the bike, is a dry creek bed. Perfect for exploring.

Almost immediately we found interesting things.

  Paw prints. Dog, I am pretty sure.

 Raccoon perhaps?

An humongous bug.

 I thought Canaan had found something educational. A bug to study. A print to photograph. A leaf to ask about. 

 Nope. 

He found man made trash, abandoned and covered in mud. 

However, it was "fascinating to an 8 year old" trash.

 In the meantime, Zion had meandered his way down the creek bed, exploring on his own. 

 Until he discovered our first roadblock. 

 Over...

 Under...

through every obstacle that comes our way! 

Onward we go...

Around a corner, and suddenly, gasp!

 What in the world? It is a dead... something. I never did figure out what it was. It was pretty much just fur. Very little else was left. Ewww, but kinda cool too.

 After that I was ready to take pictures of pretty things.

These little bits of color, trying to hold on to the last piece of summer. 

This is what Zion thought of the beautiful yellow flowers.

I took a ridiculous amount of pictures along the way.

 Canaan enjoying his new "toy",

 Zion trying to research what sort of tracks we were discovering,

 and the generous sharing of the rolypoly bug from one brother...

to another.

 I, literally, ran into this. Well, actually backed into it, but still...

 Not Cool!

 I haven't gotten around to researching it yet. 

Anyone want to tell me what it is, so I don't have to go to the trouble?

I think this moss and fungus covered log is my favorite picture of the day. It shows such a beautiful expression of life, growing even in death. It is a beautiful, colorful reminder that nothing is wasted in the purity of nature, the way God intended it. 

 On the way back the boys decided to have a picture taken with "their" animal. 

And we end at the beginning. Over, and under once again - where it leads to this time, who knows?

 On a closing note: Today I asked Canaan to write 5 sentences about our expedition into the woods. He decided to write a multiple choice questionnaire for my blog. Here it is, in it's original spelling. (which is atrocious)

I found a hammer. Win we got home i? 1) i found it 2) i ate it, 3) i clingd it
 (The answer is 3, cleaned it)

We had green thigs on us. Wat woor the green thigs? A: Leefs, B: grubas, C ants
(the answer is A, and they were those little green sticker things that feel like velcro)

We found a hous. Wat culre was it? A: Broun and Green B: Green C: cat
(According to him the answer is A. I don't remember. After about 1/4 mile we left "the wilds" and reached a subdivision. We could see the back of a house up the hill and he says it was green and brown)

I love his attempt at humor. Every question has a comedic choice. Mostly I love that this was his idea. A simple writing assignment turned into a desire to be "published".

 My little ham! 

I hope you are having some adventures in the wild, even if it is just the wild of your backyard. 

Blessings,