Our favorite little creek ...

How can September be nearly over … already?! I can hardly believe it. And what a beautiful weather week we've had! The grandchildren and I got to spend a few hours of this last weekend together. We met at Chris's football game (no posted pictures) on Saturday; but since the game was a late game, we didn't get together afterwards and decided to spend some time together instead Sunday afternoon.

I picked the children up at about 2:30 in the afternoon. We decided to head on over to our favorite little creek at Townsend Park … and we brought our hunting gear along with us.

The kiddos were very enthused about it (as always) and found their favorite spots and began searching for critters to put into our white bucket. 

 We love this spot along the creek so much ...

 Who would be the first one to catch a crayfish?!!

As always, there were tons of other children with us in the creek … and instant friends were made. I love this about children! 

The water was VERY chilling … but it didn't stop us from traveling quite a distance up and down the creek in search of treasures ... 

Chris was quite pleased that he found a nickel and a penny shining in the sunlight on the bottom of the creek ... 

At one point, we had seven crayfish (two rather large ones!), several water bugs ~ one looked like a walking stick except it swam really well and … we're not sure WHAT it was. One little friend of ours by the name of Grant (about 4 years old) asked me if I'd ever heard a crayfish SNORE ~ and if so, what did it sound like? 

We finally exhausted our hunting expedition and decided we needed a little playground time ... 

 Emma stood on a large rock and sang "Do-Re-Me" to me. She is learning this piece of music in her school choir ~ she loves to sing.

We spent a really enjoyable few hours together in the park followed by a yummy meal and ice cream sundaes (naturally) before driving back to their house. It was relaxing and peaceful … such a gift.

The "long" way home from work ...

It was a really LONG week … difficult in so many ways. So since the week was long, I decided I might just as well take the long way home from work tonight. There are about 100 different routes I can choose from, but this one never disappoints with beauty, and there is hardly any traffic!

 If I take Fulton all the way in to Ada, and then turn on Petits, I can take it almost all the way to my little house!

 There is a "park" that I have intended to check out for … years almost … and tonight I pulled over, down the drive, parked my car, and took a little exploratory hike ...

 Jesus said, 

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.

I do not give to you as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled

and do not be afraid."

JOHN 14:27

 Isn't this delightfully gorgeous?!

 I love these HUGE trees!

I stepped over a small gated area and entered this wooded pathway ... 

 I love being in the woods this time of day, don't you? I love the lighting and the shadows ...

 I could have walked much further, but the pathway was getting less and less defined and … the mosquitos were beginning to make a meal of me! So … reluctantly, I walked back!

Good-bye Chief Hazy Cloud Park! I'll have to see what you look like when the leaves are in their full color … and then in the winter too! 

The best few hours of yesterday...

Sigh. I must say that it's been quite awhile since there has been a week in my life quite as difficult as this one has been. Thankfully, this is not the "norm." But yesterday, after work, I drove over to visit Little Fellow and his mama. We had an agenda, and the first item was to go to Hopscotch because our little man needed a few extra training pants. He is doing really well so far with his training! Yay, Brendan (actually, the credit goes to Dylan and Kelly, who consistently put him ON the potty).

 Brendan enjoys a good shopping trip ...

 He explores every corner of every room he is in ...

 But he is a very careful little child … he never empties shelves; nor does he touch the merchandise ON the shelves. However, if there is a basket of toys at his level with a table on which to play them … well, that's an open invitation!

It's been so perfectly lovely, weather-wise, we decided to take advantage of it and re-visit the zoo.  

We practically had the entire zoo to ourselves … which is very special! 

 The stingrays continue to thrill this little boy ...

 There are 17 stingrays in this pool of water, plus ONE six-month old "pup." Brendan takes extra delight in this little pup, and says: "Oh, the baby!"

 Brendan loved watching them sail through the water ...

 They were quite friendly with us! They would raise their "wings" and almost give us a "high-five!"

 Kelly was showing Brendan how to put his hand flat in the water and how to softly touch them as they swam by … he did a very nice job following her instructions.

I know! I know! SO MANY PICTURES! 

I just loved watching these two sweethearts play and interact with these interesting sea creatures. Isn't God so good? 

On our way to look for a bathroom (!), we wandered by the grizzlies who were out and about and … quite close for us to see!

 Little Fellow looks SO LITTLE next to Mrs. Grizzly!

 I love going to the zoo with these two … they are never in a hurry … everything is interesting … such a happy time!

 And look at the golden leaves in the parking lot at the zoo! Yikes! I am NOT ready for what follows our beautiful autumns ...

We decided to bring home some yummy pizza for dinner, which we enjoyed, and then we played outside for a little while before I had to go home. I had a wonderful few hours with this dear family.

The beautiful crocuses in Little Fellow's yard!