17/52: We Took to the Woods

With all the work our new neighbor has been doing on various ponds on our property and his, we've found the paths in the woods have totally changed! Andrew took the kids walking one Sunday while I was making dinner (after the kids helped me bake delicious cookies), and they came home with such a lovely bunch of wildflowers that I had to let them take me to their "wildflower patch" the next day (which happened to be sunny and gorgeous, so it didn't take much arm twisting!).

First we had to head down to the pond so they could show me The Colonel Mustard, the ship John Paul (and the girls) worked hard to build. They've been down at the pond nearly every day, letting the ship sail while they try to capsize it with dirt clods, rocks, and hickory nuts. Sometimes they take a camera down and take (very long, very boring) videos of different battles. I'm glad they're having so much fun! We kept going past the pond this time...

The violets and bluets are nearly done blooming, but the buttercups have just started and the wild roses are close! They found several patches of wild phlox growing in the woods, and I would really love to dig some up and transplant it closer to the house but I'm not sure it would take... I also want to flag one of the many baby dogwood trees so Andrew can transplant it closer to the house, there are so many in the woods!

We ended up looping around to where the path was entirely overgrown by brambles, since we hadn't been using it much since the land bridge got washed out... Looks like I need to send the kids with clippers (or Andrew with the weed whacker) to reclaim the path! Much as we love wild berries, once the brambles start growing across the path, they aren't welcome anymore!

By the time we got back to the pond, my arm was aching from having Lucy on my back and holding Edith's hand, but Edith was DEVASTATED that I couldn't hold her hand anymore. Mary Claire to the rescue! She carried her up the hill, sweet girl, and then held her hand all the way back to the house. Cecilia insisted on staying home reading her (very exciting) book, or she probably would have been willing to carry Edith all the way home! God bless these sweet big sisters, they do love her so.