August 29, 2012
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Just a few days left
As I read blogs and Facebook Updates, I see that most of the people I know have headed back to school from the summer breaks. The elementary school near our house will start next week and then so will we. I should be looking over lesson plans for next week, but here I am on Xanga. In an effort to take in the last days of summer before...well...September comes (hard to believe it is nearly September), we are filling our days as much as we can. Yesterday I took a hike up the nearby mountain for a bit of leg stretching, and today I took the kids to another park not too far away also located on a mountain. We live in a valley, but there are mountains at pretty easy access all around us. Granted, they are not very big, they are fun to romp up and down. The park today has a chipmunk park area where people are allowed into the chipmunk enclosure. The kids really enjoy feeding the chipmunks and observing the antics of the chipmunks. I was pleased at how patient Maya was at letting the chipmunks come to her so she could feed them from her hand. The boys love it too. A couple of times, when I squatted down to help Maya, I found I had a small friend on my back trying to squeeze his or her way into the whole in my backpack (Mental note, sew the whole in the backpack). Although the boys thought it would be perfectly delightful to bring home a chipmunk as a pet, I thought better of it and kindly encouraged the chipmunk to go back to the ground.
We had lunch and the kids spent a lot of time playing around on the playground area. It was good to have them outside playing. Thankfully, the play area on the side of the mountain was well shaded and felt pretty comfortable in spite of the fact that the temperatures were once again in the middles 90's. All this being said, I am quite exhausted.
Tomorrow we are going to check out some camping gear because it turns out we have both a good outdoor gear store in town and a number of camping sites within a very close distance from our house. We are thinking of taking more frequent family camping getaways, since we are so close to camping places. I think it would be a great family experience without tons of expenses involved. The boys like the idea, so we are hoping to give it a go within the next couple of weekends. Most places will allow camping up until November and then start again in April. Provided the weather holds out we will go to a park a little further away from our house.
Comments (4)
I haven't seen many chipmunks in my life so it's always a treat when I do see one! I do, however, see a lot of squirrels! Hiking and camping is always fun! Yes, school seems to be starting and summer is coming to an end now. Enjoy what's left of it!
yes camping is very cost efficient but time consuming. I think its double the work but twice the fun too. We didn't get to go this year. ;( Sad about that but there is always fall camping around here.:) Have a good first day next week.
@Ikwa - Thanks! I enjoyed hearing about you boys' first day. Hope all is going well for them.
@Callula - Thanks for subscribing to my blog!