A Walk

     One of the highlights of going to stay at Mom and Dad's house is getting to go on walks around the place. Mom is so good about taking the boys walking in the woods, by the creek and around the pasture and on my most recent visit I took them on a few walks myself.

 You can't explore without throwing rocks into puddles. The first time we went exploring Ace decided to go in after the rock…we had to head back to the house for dry clothes after that. 

    They are so fun for one main reason. When I go on those walks I'm instantly transported back to my childhood. Memories come flooding back and I start thinking like I did when I was 8, exploring the place over and over. I attempted to take a few pictures of the fun…of course they didn't capture the moments like I'd envisioned, but you'll get the idea.

    I remember walking, running and playing over every inch of the place, and it seemed so huge when we were kids. We would play Robin Hood in the woods and even had our own Sherwood Forest, complete with a rock creek crossing that we named Clydesdale Crossing.

 Looking up at Cooper from the creek bed.

Yee haw!

    We had a Wise Old Tree that was perfect for climbing or pretending that it was our prairie home place. We even had a Royal Gorge, a section of the creek that was too wide and deep to cross.

Cooper thought he was king of the forest and wanted us to 

follow him the entire time.  

 Ace waited on Papa, then helped him up the hill.

     On the other side, we had the Haunted Forest, a section that we never played in because it just seemed creepy. And then there was the creek that we would explore on foot and by horseback. We'd ride our horses as far as we could into the woods, usually escaping some bad guys, renegade indians or medieval bandits, and then tie our horses and continue on foot.

Sliding down on some leaves and climbing over a tree, what fun!

     We made many camps in that creek bottom and ran up and down playing and chasing each other, always deep in an imaginary world. Sometimes we'd bring ropes and tie them to trees at the top of the creek bed. Then we'd climb up and down the side.

 Big piece of petrified wood and our old play house that's now an old cabin in the woods.

It was once in our backyard on stilts, with a sandbox under it. Lots of memories!

     The creek was also the place that we ran to when we'd been misbehaving while Mom was on the phone and she gave us the look and mouthed "you're getting a spanking when I get off this phone." Zoom…we were instantly gone and didn't come back until we were sure she'd forgotten about whatever we'd done wrong.

GG helping the kids up the hill after the long walk. 

    It's fun to be able to share the special places with my kids now and I hope they continue to have as much fun exploring as we did when we were little.

"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? O what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone -- while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?….The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment." Job 38:4-7, 14 (Lord speaking to Job)