Ravens Run Nature Park

We Lusks have had a very busy summer so far.

Between play dates, game nights, library visits, birthdays, doctor appointments, Father's Day, VBS and family visits we have just been busy. A good busy though.

Last Saturday, we woke with two jumpy girls in our bed and realized we didn't have anything planned until the late afternoon. With the forecast calling for gorgeous weather we decided a hike would be a great thing.

We went to Ravens Run Nature Preserve and attempted our first family hike.

We weren't sure how the girls would do. We've taken several walks through our hilly neighborhood, but we haven't really been in real life nature. That coupled with my girls terrible fear of bugs of all kinds, including ants and flies, we were going to just try our best.

We chose the green path, which was marked as the easiest. But because of our terrible sense of direction we ended up on the red, or moderate path, for a bit. 

We passed by a family, or rather they passed us, and each of the kids had walking sticks. It wasn't the first time my girls had picked up a stick during a walk, but they usually call them their Moses sticks. 

Maggie was excited to be out in the "jungle", until she learned that we probably wouldn't see any "amimals". 

We were on the look out the entire trip, but only came across a few butterflies. Ellie however found a bumblebee.

She crouched watching it for several minutes. Then this conversation began. 

Ellie: (Reaching out to touch the bumblebee) I want to touch it.

Me: No, it will sting you. We don't touch bumblebees. 

She pulled her arm back and kept watching. 

She then turned to me, smiled and said, "I touch it."

Then quickly reached out and touched the bumblebee. 

She can be so fearless...though that night at dinner she went hysterical when a fly was flying around her plate. 

I wanted to get a family picture while on our adventure. I set up the camera and set the timer.

And failed.

And failed. 

And failed again. 

Then a couple of sweet girls came upon us and got one for us. 

The trail was really nice and very shaded. It had rained a few days before our adventure, so some of the trail was a bit moist. The ground was perfect for capturing tracks. We found several deer track and a couple of dog tracks too. 

We went for about an hour at a very leisurely pace and then stopped for a water break. 

We ended up going for just over two hours and the girls completed 3.5 miles. We weren't sure how long or how far the girls were going to last, but they did an incredible job. Ellie only had about 10 minutes riding her personal chauffeur. 

 We plan on making this a recurring family outing.