Nice Little Saturday

I try my best to live a simple life. We don't have a big house or the best clothes or spend outrageous amounts of money on things that in the big picture we don't really need, and don't make our life anymore complete. That doesn't change the fact that my vision of what I think I should be giving to my family is not ever jaded. Some days I am sad that I haven't taken my kids on lots of vacations or bought them fantastic toys. It takes a day like today to remember that the most valuable thing I can give to my family often doesn't cost a thing. At the end of the day, the best memories come from the simple things we do together.

The weather today was perfect - sunny and 75. We packed up some things in the car and drove a mere fifteen minutes to Mingo Creek Park. It is a park I went to many times growing up. It basically consists of a creek, a couple pavilions, two old covered bridges, a paved walking trail, one road, and some dirt trails in the woods.

We were going to go to a playground and decided to walk there. It was quite a walk for two toddlers - about a mile in one direction. Maya hasn't spent much time on a leash but she did great.

We were hoping to introduce her the water, and kept our fingers crossed that her instincts as a swimming dog would kick in. I was getting rather worried. Some of the best times we had with Peyote were taking her swimming. I have memories of Peyote playing in the water at Mingo Creek. Maya would barely get her feet wet.


After watching how much fun the kids were having collecting pine cones

and throwing rocks into the creek along the way,

we almost decided not to bother going all the way to the playground.

We finally made it to the playground.



Everyone did some sliding.




Sure, our water dog won't go near the water but she will slide repeatedly down a twisting slide.

Our tummies were rumbling so we walked back to the car. Marcus and Will loved having their freedom.


The weather was nice enough that we were able to sit right next to the creek to snack, not being too hot or too cold. To the sound of water trickling over some rocks, we ate our sandwiches and cold pizza.




Then it was time to try that water thing again.

Maya made friends with a woman and her father hanging out on the rocks and they were as determined as we were to get that pup brave enough to take the plunge.

The kids had a blast throwing little sticks in the water and watching the current take them downstream. My little angelic-looking Will loved the feel of the cool water running through his fingers.

You can tell it was an incredible day based solely on the amount of mud Marcus collected on his pants.


We even took a moment to have a family photo taken.


This was truly a special day, just being together and exploring the world. The total cost of this awesome adventure was $3.70, for the deli meat that we picked up for our sandwiches on the way. That was the best $3.70 I ever spent. All the money in the world couldn't have provided us with a better day than we had today with some sunshine, water, sticks, mud, and being together.