Almost every day during the week, I take my little Anna Rose on an "Adventure." Sometimes, we go to a park. Sometimes, we combine it with a trip to my office or going out for lunch somewhere cheap. Sometimes, especially in iffy weather, we go somewhere like Lowes (her favorite store - especially the garden section and the lighting section with the chandeliers and the disco ball) or Frazee Gardens (not to buy anything - they charge a 100% mark up over full retail on most things because they know their wealthy shallow clientele will unwittingly pay it). And occasionally, I'll take her to the public library, another one of her favorite places (she gets so excited, she won't sit still for a book, but that's another post for another day).
But our favorite kind of adventure always includes a park.
So far this Spring/Summer, Anna and I have been to McCloud Nature Park, Scamahorn Park (Pittsboro), Ellis Park (Danville Park), Williams/Blastoff Park (Brownsburg), Arbuckle Acres Park (Brownsburg), Pleasant Acres Nature Park (Jamestown), and Washington Township Park (Avon). I thing I'm gonna start posting some ratings and descriptions of them all so we can remember which ones are the best...and if anyone ever reads this thing, they might benefit as well.
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| In the spring and early summer, every time we headed out to a park or nature park, it was all about the dandelions. Anna HAD to have a yellow flower and a green leaf every time we went outside. In the pic, she was focused on going after all the dandelion seed things and saying "We're blowing BUB-bles!" each time she sent the seeds floating through the air. It was awesome, adorable, and fun; though I'm sure I would forget someday if I didn't write it down, hence the blog : ) |
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| As the summer continues, it's been more about going on an adventure and exploring. In this picture, she was playing in the dirt at McCloud Nature Park, the Grand-Daddy of all local parks. For all it lacks in playgrounds, it makes up for in explorability (not actually a word). 246 acres of wilderness with two creeks, most notably the main fork of Big Walnut Creek, a really cool bridge, and tons of wagon friendly trails. It's a tough place for a stroller, but not impossible. You just have to stay off the trails with looser gravel. Anna calls this "The Big Nature Park" and always looks forward to seeing the nature center, a cat named Smokey who lives there (Anna always calls him a turkey: "You're a TURKEY! Hey, cat, you're a turkey!" just because), and of course the creek. She always asks to "see the kitty cat?", then moves on to "go down the water?". She calls some of the shorelines "the beach," which is really cute. We've spent as much as four + hours there at a time (packed a lunch of course). Sometimes, we just find a spot on a gravel trail where Anna can sit and play with the rocks. Sometimes we go off the trails and explore the woods. |
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| Anna was actually chasing my phone around in circles in this picture. I had the reverse lens setting on the iPhone on so she could see herself in the picture, which is the only way to get her to smile for a picture so far. |
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| This was the day I got hurt carrying her down to the water. We decided to go down to the water from the wrong side of the creek. I got banged up pretty badly when I fell down on a steep hillside carrying her, but I actually had a little pride in my abrasions and bruises because I was able to protect my little girl from getting hurt at all. We found a cool spot on a rocky sandbar with almost no mosquitoes (There was so much rock, it was like being on a large concrete pad) and spent about an hour and half there throwing rocks and playing by the water. |
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| Lots of these pictures are at McCloud, but it's not the only place we've been this summer. I've got lots more to add. |
