Tuesday, May 22, 2007

speaking of "crunchy"

**click on any picture to get the full-screen view**

Ok, living in Boulder county, CO tends to have a *green* effect on even the most die-hard midwesterner. We really enjoyed all the land dedicated to trails and open space in CO. I was wondering what kind of trails we would find here in MI ~ and boy was I pleasantly surprised!

Perhaps I am wrong (feel free to correct me) but I believe this is *just* beginning to be an issue here in MI - in that they are just starting to design these types of trails/open spaces. The kids and I went on our first "official" Michigan trail today. It was the Fort Gratiot GREEN trail. We did one mile out and one mile back - quite the hike for my crew! The older two (5yob & 4yog) rode their training wheeled bikes, while this Momma pushed the other two (2yog & 3mob) in our new double stroller (well, new to us - from my mom - very COOL!!).


We stopped for a quick dinner at a little picnic table area along the way.



We heard lots of birds (did not really see all that much) - but we did see *something* in the water - maybe an opposum?? Not sure. It was brown, came down through the tall grass to get a drink, then just dove right in and swam down the way a bit. Hmmm...do opposum do that??


We went over a few nice wooden bridges - it was a bike trail so it was nice and smooth for the stroller. Not the mountain bike trails we were used to in CO (which were NOT so good for strollers, obviously).

My little Selah (4yog) is such a timid gal. Let's face it, a downright sissy girl she is. She discovered an ant on her shirt during our peaceful dinner - oh. my. goodness. can that girl YELL!! She screamed and cried until I could get Elijah unlatched (he was also having dinner), get out of my camping chair (I brought it along for that specific purpose), and get over to her to swipe it off her shirt. Isaac thought it was a RED ant (which we had talked about last week) and RAN his little hiney over to the trail, trying very hard not to look scared. Tali didn't give a whit about any of it and just wandered around the tall grass while I tried not to think of ticks (which I *did* check for, btw).

The worst part was having to cross a semi-busy road to get to the trail. A very nice gentlemen helped me by grabbing Selah half-way across and helping her along. He also mentioned that there were two other spots to join up with the trail, where you could park and not have to cross a road - BONUS!! On the way *back* across the semi-busy street, I half-dragged Selah who was just plain tuckered out by then and just couldn't get going.

The best part was just getting outside - and NOT having to worry about bears or mountain lions attacking my family while out on our hike (something I could never *quite* get used to in CO ~ someday I'll share about the bear in our backyard 2 weeks after we moved to CO...true story!).



And it was just so GREEN!! I really did enjoy a lot of the nature in CO - but it wasn't very green. Here, in spring, it's just all so GREEN ~ I love it. I'm convinced it must be one of God's favorite colors!! I *know* it's one of mine.

Ok, well, time to go do some dishes, move the laundry around and see about cutting out some fabric. We *are* headed to the beach tomorrow, so I'll try to grab some pics while we're there as well. Fun, fun, stuff.....and some of it is very educational too - BONUS!!

Loving God's green earth~
*Michigan Momma*

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey sweetheart - so good to catch up with you! You are doing so good! 18 pounds lost! That is wonderful! :)

I'm glad you're enjoying Lake Huron. It *is* pretty, isn't it?

I'm glad you're feeling better, and enjoying sewing, too! You did a great job! :) (My sewing machine is still tucked away.)

Anonymous said...

You go girl! You are a brave woman doing all that by yourself, with four children. My, my. I bet you're tuckered out!
~Cassandra