As summer creeps away, we're soaking up the last warm days of the year. The air has that crisp autumn smell to it, folks are having backyard fires in the evening, and the leaves have begun to take on red and orange hues. This only means one thing...
The days before we're blanketed in snow are limited! Realizing that not only have I left my camera sitting for weeks without use, but the kids needed to let off steam too, we headed to the woods.
We live near a massive park system called the Metroparks, which spans more than 24,000 acres. Within 15 minutes of our home are dozens of awesome walks to take; I don't think we've visited the same place twice this year.
As far as I know, this particular section of the park doesn't have a name, but it is lovely. We started off by walking over this stone bridge to the path. From over its side, we can see the riverbed, which is drier than normal today.
Just past that are a few different ways to go. We selected this cute little trail, ivy taking over every crevice it could on the steps. The kids quickly ran ahead of me as we got into the trees, this is their happy place too.
I think my son Emory would live outside if he could. With the winter approaching, I am already considering how to weatherproof the lad so we can still go out. Although he is an absolute unit for being only two, it does get very cold here.
This shot is upstream from the bridge picture. Here the river is deeper, making it more believable that farther downstream there is a waterfall. I took a moment to admire this rock face, its layers reminding me of change and circumstance.
This entire area was cut out by glaciers long ago, giving Northeast Ohio some texture and depth. The Metroparks sits largely in a valley, evidence of the path these massive ice chunks took in ages past. Without this occurrence, Ohio would not have so many interesting rock formations.
Since it is in the opposite direction of the main attraction, it was fairly quiet here. In the distance I could hear other families, muted by the leaves.
We found this interesting tree, which made my daughter laugh. "Why is it so lumpy mom?!"
Before I can conjure an answer to this, Thea runs off. She's begun school now, and is filled with so many curiosities that only half can stick.
She finds a smaller tree and tries to climb it for all of 30 seconds, before jumping away to run some more. Her brother chases her, leading me to another cool discovery.
This stone seat surely must be manmade, yet it feels like chance could have formed it. I think of the show The Flintstones, and imagine that this would be much like their couch. Add a throw pillow and voila!
I wanted to get a photo of both of the kids sitting on this rock chair, but like most days, they had better things to do than take photographs. Fair.
We decided to head down river.
Much like myself, my children adore water of any sort. We often go to stiller portions of the river to skip rocks and walk along the bank.
Naturally, Emory was a bit confused when I did not let him wander into the edge of this flow.
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As most parents can probably relate to, I've gotten a taste of my own medicine being a mother. Both of my kids have my chaotic and silly sense of humor, and although it's largely a gift... There are days I feel sympathy for my father.
Once again, I attempted to take a nice photo of both kids, but only Emory was having it. Understanding the situation, Emory pleads with Thea, "DOP!" (stop)
You can see the rejection all over his face.
"Why won't she take a picture with me?!"
He throws his arms up, and I can't help but chuckle. He's my tiny little ally in trying to capture these memories.
He takes a moment to pout, sweet boy, and I just must go and scoop him up for a hug.
I think he will get a kick out of these snaps someday, and that is awesome in itself.
As you can see, despite the sparse water that leads to this waterfall, it was flowing with vigor.
There were a few other families, and one had a daughter Emory's age. They quickly became friends, trading rocks and sticks they found with one another.
Just 20 or so feet away, the water goes calm again, passing along under this bridge.
A couple sat in the middle of the river on a rock to the right of this photo, deep in conversation. I think that a talk in that spot must be either intensely good or terribly bad.
With Emory occupied with his new bud, and Thea knee deep in pretending to be a mermaid, I looked around to see what else I could spot.
I really liked these tree roots, which had shot up out of the ground to survive. These trees sit right up against the rocks, bending and stretching to hold their ground. It probably doesn't look cool to anyone else, but I enjoy stuff like that. A reminder of the resilience that all life carries.
Running water seems to jog thought, no matter if it's a river or the spray of a shower. I zoned out for a bit and sat with my summer memories. It's hard to believe how fast the hot days went, that it's already fall again.
With the kids properly tuckered out, and the temperature rapidly dropping, it was time to head home.
The sunset reminded me of cotton candy, pinks and blues mixing into a purple color.
We had a wonderful walk in the woods, and bedtime was a blissful breeze because of it. I hope you had fun walking with us in spirit!
