A beautiful day in December

We got out for a healthy dose of Vitamin D this afternoon. The kids chose Jones Bridge Park. We've been avoiding that park lately because they've been doing so much construction there, but I figured we could check out the progress. Turns out it's still...undergoing some serious construction.

They're redoing the water drainage in the park to help with erosion, since it's right by the river and the river tends to...eat away at it. I guess. Something like that.

It has involved a lot of tree removal. Basically the entire forest area we used to hike through has been chewed up and spat back out (in other words: mulched). 

"Why do they hate us?" Phoebe moaned while we were discussing how sad it was to lose all those trees.

"It's not really a personal attack..." Rachel explained. "It's just what they're doing."

The trails we usually hit were all behind those orange fences, so we were left with the river. Only Alexander and Phoebe brought their boots.

Benjamin soon ditched his shoes so he could go wading as well, however, and Zoë soon requested that someone help her go back to the van so she could retrieve her boots (which I'd put in the van, along with dry clothes for everyone...because...have you met my children?). Rachel was the one to help Zoë get her boots (what a nice big sister).

Here's Benjamin with a handful of coins that he found in the river:

This kid and his propensity for finding money in bodies of water! Remember that one time the ocean handed him $5?

He and Zoë actually managed to keep themselves mostly dry during this excursion at the river—a miraculous sign that they're growing up! Alexander got water in one of his boots and then decided he simply didn't care.

He go thoroughly soaked, as you'll see...

The kids had a blast stomping in the little stream that leads to the river:

Here's Miriam keeping watch, while Rachel runs to the van with Zoë:

Here's Phoebe and Alexander stomping away:

Here's all the kids in one shot:

Phoebe insisted on playing a game of leaf racing. It's fun to see that game spontaneously surface when children are around water and nature.

We eventually ditched Phoebe's white shirt (it was so muddy here—I also made Zoë take her white sweater off of her waist because if she fell in the creek...it would no longer be a white sweater).

Eventually the kids decided they were ready for lunch—they'd packed a picnic for themselves. We went to the van to find both the picnic and some dry clothes. Along the way we found a bunch of mistletoe that had been blown down in the big storm that came through the other day, so we stopped to show some mistletoe-induced affection:

And then we emptied out our boots...

...ate our lunch...and went to play at the park. Technically, Rachel and Miriam left to go pick up some yarn from Wal-Mart because Rachel is desperately trying to finish her 2023 temperature blanket before it turns into 2025. She's been working steadily for two years already!

Here are the little kids playing at the playground though:

I thought Uncle Patrick would be proud of Phoebe climbing this big rock wall. It leads up to the top of the brown slide—so quite a height!

Here she is pausing near the top for...a rest? Some reassurance? I'm not sure what for:

And, finally, here are some pictures of Alexander and Phoebe playing with a ladybug they found on one of the picnic tables:

December in Georgia is always so incredible to me. As much as we might appreciate a little snow every now and again...I must say that it's nice to have such nice days to enjoy in December. It's not too hot, there aren't too many bugs, but the sunshine feels so good, and the air so fresh! We're pretty lucky!