Leaves, sticks, walnuts, acorns and ... a jack hammer?

I was determined to take Abby out for one last hoorah while the weather was still decent to play in the leaves as well for a photo shoot of sorts. There's a great park about 20 minutes from us that John and I used to frequent a few years ago when he was in grad school. We loved to take walks, toss the football around and just enjoy God's beautiful creation.

So, Abby and I headed out one beautiful, sunny morning a couple of weeks ago for some fun at the park. There was hardly anyone there when we arrived, so we had our run of the place without interruption and distraction...or so I thought. The first stop we made in the park was a place with some beautiful, bright red sugar maple trees which had dropped about half their leaves. Perfect place to play in the leaves...and to take pictures...or so I thought. As I was trying to show Abby the fun things you can do with fallen leaves and just enjoy the surroundings, a jack hammer, of all things, starts up. Other than it being a little distracting from the sounds of nature, it didn't really bother me, but it did bother Abby. She wouldn't get two feet from me and preferred to sit right in my lap. A little difficult to play in the leaves (and take photos) that way. :-) So, I took a few pics, and we moved on pretty quickly.

Our next stop was the walking trail on which John and I took many, many strolls back in the day. Lots of great memories there for us, and it was far enough from the jack hammer that we never heard it again, thankfully. Abby and I played next to a huge oak tree that is at the start of the trail and right next to the golf course, then we took off down the trail. She walked ahead of me and explored all of the surroundings--sticks, leaves, walnuts, acorns and all. I think she stopped every five feet to bend down and look at (and usually pick up) something. Our last stop was the botanical garden, and, oh was there a lot to explore there! In addition to the sticks, leaves, walnuts and acorns, we enjoyed exploring the old brick, walking trail along with the pond (and fish) and the cool little bridge that goes over it.

Needless to say, it was a fantastic morning enjoying the outdoors with Abby. It's been quite a while since I stepped out of the routine of life and into God's creation simply to enjoy His beauty and to watch my precious daughter explore it--and, of course, to take a few pictures along the way...