Ladybugs

So, today was a typical day around here. Nate was up early, as usual, and Aves got up shortly afterwards. Fortunately for me, Russ let me sleep in until 7! Wonderful! Now, you would think that with as early as my kids get up, that we'd be fed, dressed and ready to go early as well, but that is never the case. I think I just move really slow in the mornings. Anyhow, we did finally get ready for the day and left for the gym around 9:30. Afterwards, we came home, had lunch (PB&J for the kids, of course) and played a bit in a homemade tent before we finally settled down for some quiet time. Nate and I took a nap while Aves watched a movie. We woke up at 3:30, and because it was so pretty outside, I decided to take the kids to the park. We were gone for over an hour and had a nice walk. The kids take such pleasure in all of the little things. Beautiful flowers (read: weeds), throwing leaves and pebbles into the stream below, and finding ladybugs in the grass. Yes, the highlight of our trip today was seeing and playing with 3 ladybugs. The first one we found let us play with him for a good, long time. Avery loved having it crawl up and around her fingers. She was extemely upset when Nate quickly swatted at it, and for a moment, we thought he was a goner. However, he started to crawl again and all was right with the world. We played with him for a little longer and he showed us his wings. He then begin to use Avery's fingers as a springboard for his flying. He would climb up, and then attempt to fly. He finally flew off so far that we could no longer find him. Avery was thrilled that she'd been able to "teach the ladybug how to fly". Afterwards, we were lucky enough to see 2 more, but they weren't as patient with us, and they quickly flew away. Still, we had fun. It must be so wonderful to see nature through a child's eyes. And how lucky I feel to watch them as they enjoy such simple joys!