One With Nature

 This summer has kept us all really busy and that's the way I liked it. I found that if I took the kids out once or twice a week that they got along better and I was happier. So I took the kids to the Ogden Nature Center to go for a walk one day. I love this place! We spent all day here exploring and playing in the shade, in the heat, and in the water. 

While we were playing and eating lunch at the park a mom with two girls about the boys' ages sat down next us. I brought a few pieces of candy for a treat after our lunch and the kids were ready for it. As we cleaned up our lunch I over heard bits and pieces of  this mom talking to her older daughter about levels and they might have to leave to go the store to get something. I looked over and saw she was checking her blood sugar levels and they were getting really high, but they left the extra insulin in the car. I looked at my kids and whispered to them if it was ok if we shared some of our candy with these girls. They did not want to at first. I tried to explain what was happening as best I could, but I knew they didn't really understand what was going on. It didn't take long for Lucas to change his mind and he let me give a few pieces to the girls. That mom and both girls looked so relieved and grateful that they didn't have to leave the park after just getting there. We felt pretty good about what we did and had a great time playing in the water and mud.

We saw some really interesting things on our walk. Someone painted this log to look like a fox. We saw an intricate spider web, a neon blue beetle, a wasp nest, and a really neat black and white dragonfly.

This will forever be one of my favorite photos. It was almost 100 degrees that day, and we had walked a good mile and half round trip with lots of stops and resting along the way, but it was late in the day and Hannah didn't feel like she could go on any longer. She was tired and irritable, and wanted me to carry her the rest of the way to the car. We were all feeling much the same as Hannah--I had sweat dripping down my face and back, carrying the backpack of our water bottles and picnic supplies, and pushing a sleeping Grayson in the stroller. I couldn't carry her, so I told her to keep walking and we were almost to the car. She obliged for a while longer until she just stopped and couldn't go on any more. She fell to the ground and started sobbing because she was just too tired to walk. I kept trying to coax her to keep walking just a little bit further, but that just made her cry even more. We were pretty close to the car, so I thought I could take the other kids and get them in the car and come back for Hannah, but she didn't want me to leave and neither did Zander. He tried his best to stay with Hannah and get her to continue walking, but nothing worked. I started to leave, so I had free hands to help, and then I turned around and see Zander carrying Hannah to the car. I couldn't believe my eyes. He was so concerned for his three year old little sister who is at least half of his weight that he picked her up and carried her the rest of the way to the car which was probably close to the length of a football field away. This was such a tender, proud mom moment for me to see how much Zander cared for and loved his sister that he'd take her burden off of her and carry it himself...literally. Well done, son.