Yes, Fall is upon us.....

The kids are adjusting to the routine of going back to school and seem to be enjoying the start of the new school year. I feel a bit guilty that are summer plans lack some major adventures like hitting the Black Hills, but it seemed that the summer swept by us before I even realized it. We made a couple weekend getaways and I told the kids that we will each write up a list of activities for next year and maybe pick one or two and just focus on achieving those, maybe instead of having a huge list of "things to do" and focusing on one or two, we will be more likely to accomplish it.

We went camping over the weekend, it was such a beautiful day yesterday and it was completely last minute, but we were able to squeeze it in. My husband had been at this campsite a few times before, but it was a first for us as a family and wow, what a well-kept secret. There are only six campsites (no electric) and it is tucked away in some rolling hills, there is a trail that leads to what was once the site of a Native American (Woodland Indians) burial ground. It is called, Hickory Hills.

The kids chased monarch butterflies and impressed me with their newly acquired knowledge of butterflies that they have been learning in school. We looked at various plants, such as milkweed and then looked at the stars. It was a great night, no t.v. or phone or computer, movies, just us.



I wish I could say I slept like a baby, but for one I am a light sleeper and second as much as I like being outdoors, I have an overactive imagination, so when you combine that with sleeping in a tent outdoors in the middle of a secluded campsite, your mind plays tricks on you. The owls were hooting, coyotes were howling, and then all the other noises that you typically hear in the woods, my sleep was not restful to say the least. You would think I would learn.....


"I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright." ~Henry David Thoreau

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough." - R.Tagore