Our first hike together! It was a great morning for a nature hike–cloudy and warm but not too hot. It was REALLY muddy from all the rain we’ve had lately, and the mosquitoes were swarming like crazy. But our bug repellent & citronella pins we wore on our shirts seem to have done the trick for the mosquitoes, because Reese and I did not get one bite!

The trail we hiked today was the Unnatural Objects Trail. Before we headed out on the trail, we talked about things that are natural (what grows there on it’s own) or unnatural (things that people put there). At first the kids didn’t quite “get” the concept but at the end of our hike, I think Reese understood natural vs. unnatural.

This was a fun experience, mud and all! This site was fantastic as well. It was property owned by Lewisville ISD, and it’s their Outdoor Learning facility. Neat to know that, as homeschoolers, we can take advantage of that service as well!

Heading out on the hike. Reese wanted to be FAR ahead of everyone, including Mommy. We had to have a few serious talks about staying near the group so I could see him at all times. The trail wasn’t dangerous, but there was poision ivy all around and I didn’t want to experience ANY of that type of nature today!

Check out all that water and mud! They had these planks to help cross the biggest puddles, and Reese insisted on doing it all by himself. Notice his right foot sliding into the water. By the end of the morning, his shoes, socks, and pants (not to mention mine) were muddy and soaked, but he could have cared less!

We reach the beginning of the Unnatural Objects Trail. Things to look for included a light bulb, shoe, chair, umbrella, brick, toothbrush, and lots of other things hidden in the trees.

We found the lightbulb right away!

Who says that money doesn’t grow on trees? I’ve got proof otherwise!

Thanks to Deb for pointing out poision ivy! I’ve never actually seen REAL poision ivy, so it was nice to have someone point it out.

I liked this sign…

Boys and a pond…what could possibly go wrong? Luckily, we didn’t find out.

We stopped for a snack, and then each kiddo got a bug jar to see what we could capture & look at. Reese found this COOL caterpillar on a wall of a barn. Check out the fuzzy things on his head. So very neat! Other bugs our group caught: butterfly, mosquio, roly poly, beetle, grasshopper.

Reese’s funky beetle. Check out those antennae!