Switching up an Ordinary Day

Many people commented on the heart shaped leaf from yesterday.  Yen and I found it in the creek just the other day.   Isn’t it always noteworthy when you find hearts in nature?

They feel like they were put there for a purpose….

We weren’t having a bad day… but we weren’t having a very interesting day either.  My husband was gone for the week and the kids and I were just over our normal routine.  We are still pining for the beach.  Not having a beach handy I decided to take them on a hike.  Somewhere I could sit and read and they could explore.

Yen and I found that leaf right off when we arrived.  I figured this was a good enough sign as any to settle in and release the herd!  It still amazes me my 80 year old grandparents took it upon themselves to recently clear this creek bed.  They had seen the pictures of when we had the Great Little Boat Race… emphasis on the little… and took it upon themselves in their 80th year of life to completely expand the area. It now has a deck, stairs and bridges!

Needless to say we need to really improve our boat making skills for next years race….Sheesh! No pressure!

When I was little (oh yes, I just said that) we had to fight our way through brush and bramble just to get to the creek.  You know back when my grandparents were many decades younger?!   Not to mention how we would slide down the embankment just to get to the water… my children take the stairs… Well maybe they still slide down the embankment, at least the boys do.

(Oh by the way…. Mer does make it across.. I know in  the picture  she appears she is about to go into the creek… she must have wings because she made it no problem)

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Some of the original bridges did get washed away in the recent floods.  My grandfather has built new ones and replaced them with boards a tsunami couldn’t move. ( Again…that is my 80 year old grandfather!)

 The baby kept me on my toes with crossing and recrossing the bridges over and over.  She isn’t very surefooted in her everyday life… but she was very determined to keep crossing back and forth.

The kids dug up tons of clay and spent most of the day creating pottery, making dams and catching crayfish.  The boys were very busy and hardly showed up as much  more then a colorful blur in most of my photos.

Today I am off to this place again.  Only this time my grandparents want to take photos with all of their Great Grandchildren.  I don’t know how successful I will be with keeping everyone clean…especially since my grandmother wants all of the children to wear off white…I mean really?  It has been raining for days!

If nothing more I am sure I will get interesting photos !

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To see more posts which feature the creek:

The Big Little Boat Race

or

Dealing with Abandonment

What are some of the ways you switch up a boring day?  How do you turn an ordinary day into something a bit more noteworthy or memorable?  I am always looking for ideas.~T