Thursday, September 13, 2007

A Walk in the Woods

Dan and I took Jackson for a hike at Fort Snelling State Park last Sunday. He's been napping til quite late in the afternoon recently, but we couldn't miss the beautiful fall weekend that we had. So we packed him up as soon as he woke up and headed out the door. With a crockpot cooking up some lentil-vegetable stew and a bread machine baking some bread for us while we were out (the oven is still broken...*), we didn't have to worry about dinner.**

We just did the 1-mile loop but definitely took our time. J-Man walks on his own now and will NOT be carried in a sling or a backpack - not even part of the way. He's a walking machine.
We saw many, many, many deer and just a few people. It was neat to be in such a public, urban state park so late on a Sunday. Seeing more animals than people is rare in our neck of the woods. Jackson saw all of the deer too, some of them crossing the trails right in from of him (about 40' ahead). He was mesmerized, just like us.
[Jackson found a stick and tried to use it as a walking stick. He was thrilled when his Daddy copied him.]

Just J-Man and I went to Wood Lake Nature Center on Tuesday this week and took another hike (again, incredible fall weather). This time we hiked about a mile and a half and went across the boardwalk over the marsh. Forgot my camera on this trip, probably all for the best since I was too preoccupied with making sure my toddler stayed on the boardwalk and didn't venture in to "meet" the ducks.
[Is it just me, or are these trees really tippy?! I guess it must be really windy down there by the rivers (still Fort Snelling.)]

We love living in a city with so many parks and natural areas so close by. Jackson absolutely adores hiking with us and it's so much more exhilarating to take a walk outside than in a shopping mall, with a stroller!
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* Waiting for parts for the oven, but the repair work is all covered under our plan with the gas company. Still...a broken oven right at the start of chilly weather when all I want to do is bake breads and casseroles and cookies??

** Dinner was really, really, really good. Praise the crockpot.

6 comments:

LaVerna said...

Bless your heart!I cannot imagine not having an oven especially this time of year.I would go crazy!
Sending speedy parts replacement wishes your way...

Anonymous said...

Microwaves are more than beneficial to the growing family
(even if ther're green!

Catherine said...

Uncle Tom - have you ever tried to bake cookies in a microwave? Cookies?! I hear you on the usefulness of the Nuke-Box, don't get me wrong. But some things just *need* an oven.

(That's Jackson's UT, for those family members reading this...not MY UT.) :)

TinkingBell said...

Life without my oven would be - awful - when we had the kitchen renovated I spent 4 months with a microwave and a BBQ and a toaster!!" There are good recipes out there - but it's just NOT the same - thank heaven for crockpots and bread machines (no didn't have them either - it was a horrid time!)

Cloudberry said...

Can't wait until Endre will walk by himself... he is so heavy to carry in the backpack now! Would have been great to have a park where dears walk just by :) Here we have elks, and they like to "hang out" behind our house during the winter :)
Have a great weekend!

Rebecca said...

I only had a toaster oven for a long time. Think of it as portion control!