Another good day on the trail

 It was a gorgeous weekend here, so Zack and I took advantage of it and went hiking on the trail, but on the other side of the creek. Just to mix it up a little.

This ended up being a good thing, as in the first 5 minutes of our hike we saw a snake. Well, Georgia spotted it first. It was just a harmless brown snake, taking advantage of the Indian Summer.

 Of course, after seeing this snake, Zack wanted to find more snakes. I told him that in the 10 years I'd been walking this trail, I'd never seen a snake before, so I wasn't too sure that we'd see another one and perhaps we should look for other things. He thought for a moment and decided that he'd like to look for "frogs, fish, and sharks." He also claimed to see crocodiles in the creek.

If he was disappointed in not finding any other wildlife, it didn't show. He quite happily played in the water for awhile, fishing digging, and exploring. He's quite a good hiker; this side of the trail is hillier and a bit rockier, but it was no problem for him. He was rather proud of himself for walking on rocks to cross a little rivulet. I love watching him exploring and taking in the world.

And what is it about a pile of leaves that draws kids in like a moth to a flame? With no prompts from us whatsoever, he dove in and must have been running, jumping, and swimming in this pile for a good hour.

So if you're looking for Christmas gift suggestions for him, just box up some leaves and send them our way.