Over the weekend, we took off on a hike to Mason Neck State Park, near Lorton. Last weekend, we went to the Natural History Museum, so we’re alternating city and country adventures. It was a Portland day–misty, chilly, but not too bad. There was a group of cyclists departing in their day-glo gear, but we preferred to amble along, thinking about all the paths before us.
There were lots of worms, and then the boys finally understood why, in Diary of a Worm, the worm and his family have to come out during rains.
Over the summer, Seamus finally managed to knock down a dead tree in our back yard. He and Gilbert declared this a baby tree and were shaking it for a “baby mother nature shower” but then they quit, because they didn’t want to uproot it.
It was a little overcast, but the boys liked walking in the sand.
At the nature center, we petted beaver, raccoon, opossum, and skunk pelts. We saw a stuffed eagle, and the big thrill, sycamore and sugar gum seeds. When we went out in the wild, we found some of these seeds in their natural habitat. The boys could not have been more excited. (Here you also get a pretty good view of Gilbert’s self-inflicted haircut.)
We explained that he was doing the tree a favor by spreading the seeds around the forest. We crossed several wooden boardwalks on this hike, and they were pretty thrilled to think that there might be a troll under the bridge. At the very end of each bridge, which we tiptoed across veeeerryy quietly, they would roar and run the last bit. They thought they were waking up the troll and then running away from him.
The colors were pretty, but it was quite wet.
This is Gilbert’s silly face for absolutely every picture he’s in lately. I have no idea where it he got it.
Academic Leigh Speaking 
Gilbert’s haircut is hilarious!