Nature walk

I had been wanting to take the kids back to the Babcock Woods for a nature walk for a while now.  It was a gorgeous day today, and Emily needed something to put in the sharing bag for preschool tomorrow.  To make the trip even more fun, I pulled out two sets of binoculars I had purchased for the kids a long time ago for just such an occasion. 

The trip was mostly successful.  Lincoln enjoyed looking in hollow logs and was proud of the stick and acorn he found.  Emily found some acorns and a cool red berry clump thing for the sharing bag to go along with her binoculars.  We all got some good exercise on the 40 minute stroll.

However, we didn't see much wildlife except for a few butterflies (although I did see one deer darting away).  This probably had a lot to do with the the fact that Emily chattered away at a very high volume most of the time.  Lincoln threw a couple fits when I wouldn't let him run into the woods, so I ended up carrying him about a third of the time.  Emily also got impatient on the last stretch of path along the prairie grass and complained of the long grass scratching her legs (a valid complaint).  All in all, though, it's a nice little outing that will definitely be repeated as the kids get older!