A morning at home

The boys have been sick, so we've been spending a lot of time at home lately.  In contrast to my last post, I wanted to show what a lovely time I've been having with my boys lately!  

This morning was just beautiful... warm, sunny, breezy.  We spent almost all morning outside and had such a great time that I decided to document it as much as possible :)  I love days when I decide to just carry my camera around because I always end up with some of my favorite pictures. 

We started with a stroller walk so Mommy could get some exercise.  Always nice!  And then we decided to eat snack outside on the front porch.  

Brotherly shenanigans.  And yes, they should be sitting down.  *Sigh*

Kaeden, eating his snack and watching his brother.  So many faces!

 

 We spent some time just playing around the house.  Kaeden loves climbing up on the back deck every chance he gets. 

And Ryan enjoyed a moment's rest in our new hammock:

 

 And then we were off, for what I like to call a "Creation walk".

Kaeden clearly has no trouble setting off on his own:

 We have tons of these really cool butterflies along our driveway, but it was hard to get close enough to get a good picture. 

I admit that this was staged, but it's still cute, right?

Ryan saying, "Hey Kaeden, come back and hold my hand!" and Kaeden saying, "See ya later, bro!"

 At the top of our driveway (before you get to the street) there is a path that runs parallel to the road.  It's actually where our septic line runs, but that's a whole other story.  Anyway, it's become our favorite place to go exploring.  It feels woodsy enough that the boys feel like they're exploring, and we're always finding new & fun things along our way.  But, it's cleared enough that I can let Kaeden walk on his own, we're not getting smacked in the face with branches and spider webs, and I'm not quite so paranoid about them getting into poison ivy or some such thing.  

Here are the boys, setting off down the path (you can see the road to the right)

Ryan, checking out the creek:

This is our tadpole spot.  We check on them pretty much every day.

 Our extra blessing today was these wildflowers that we found growing by the creek.  Aren't they beautiful? 

The boys each got to pick one. 

Ryan (typical firstborn) carefully preserved his and carried it home to put in a vase.  

Kaeden (typical toddler/second-born) very sweetly checked his out (these were actually not at all posed and I LOVE them!)...

 

...and then sat down and systematically tore it apart.

 While I must admit that I sometimes miss being close to a lot of great parks and other go-to activities, being able to just walk out our door and explore God's creation whenever we want to really can't be beat.  It's probably my favorite part of living here so far, and I'm so thankful that my boys will get to grow up experiencing this :-)  

Grateful today for beautiful weather and special memories with my sweet boys!