Along the Creek

Yesterday the weather was mild and the kids were suffering from post-Christmas cabin fever so we packed everyone off to a nearby nature park for a loooooong walk.

We stopped frequently to let the kids mess around with sticks and logs and water and stuff. The Badger reminisced about the good times we used to have romping on the beach in Oregon, but my kids were having just as much fun with the prairie riparian enviroment as they used to have on the coast. Kids are great that way. They're just happy to be outside, wherever it is.

Here is a classic portrait of a young boy:

In September this creek flooded badly. As we walked along the banks, we could see all the debris the flood had left behind. Logs, twigs, and grass clumped together as high as my head.

This flood debris made the most enchanting hidey holes for small children.