More of Pickerel Lake Park ...

I know it probably seems odd that we would go back to Pickerel Lake Park and actually hike there TWO weeks in a row … but Sunday was a truly beautiful (though kind of chilly) day. I was wondering as I drove from church to the grandchildren's house … how was I going to get the kids outside for a few hours of good healthy play? I truly wanted to go back to Pickerel Lake, but I really didn't think the kids would want to ...

Christopher, hamming it up for me on
the fence ...

 But thankfully, Emma supplied the reason why we HAD to return to Pickerel Lake! It seems that her Science class is studying cells and their assignment was to bring water from different lakes or creeks to examine under the microscope ...

Emma was very excited when she remembered Pickerel Lake had swampy areas and even accessible sea weed that we could "harvest" for her use in Science class! 

Thankfully, the sunshine was warm and inviting … and … well the beauty was just stunning … different from last week, because there were far less colorful leaves … but that made it more moody and a tiny bit foreboding ...

 I love it here. I could spend hours and hours just hiking and exploring and … worshipping!

 Look at this odd tree we found! Were these holes made by a woodpecker?

 Emma knew exactly the spot she wanted to reach in order to get her swampy water specimens from. There is a small detour from one of the main hiking paths that takes you to this tiny rather muddy isthmus … this is where she collected two different samples. One was just mucky water. The other one was a good-looking piece of seaweed. She was very pleased.

 I was just very glad (and relieved) that no one fell IN during the process.

Do the woods ever call to you? 

 Well, they call to me all the time! I can barely resist hiking into the deepest parts of the woods ...

 And it is very lovely to share this with the kiddos. I have hiked many times alone, but I'm always a wee bit squeamish … just because! And it takes part of the JOY away when those little fears creep in.

 But when I am with the children and they are whooping and yelling and chasing and hiding and being rascals … well, it's a completely different experience.

I can NEVER resist a pathway like this ...

 I handed my camera off to Emma, who took this rather unflattering (!!) photo of me ...

After our samples were taken at Pickerel Lake, we decided to get one more sample over at Bear Creek because it's only a 5-minute drive! 

This is one of our favorite places too … although now the creek has risen and it is too cold to wade in and look for cray fish. Emma managed to take a sample of the water here. I hope she finds lots of interesting microscopic critters to examine this week in Science!