Fall Goodness {Nature Hike}

I checked the forecast last evening and discovered that today is our last really warm day for awhile. So I brainstormed, cleared it with the principal, and put a plan in place. Now there are all kinds of homeschool mom's out there, some who are much more spontaneous than me. I usually fall in the category of being too rigid and too scheduled. So an impromptu outing like this is really taking me off of my normal path.

I announced before morning devotions that at 10 AM school would cease for the day and we would head to the woods. Spelling and Math were on the agenda for the boys and Annika had to do her Learning To Read lesson. We met our goals, grabbed a snack and a water bottle and we were off.

About 6 miles from here, right next to where Leon's parents live, is a 95 acre area of woods that belongs to the county. It is a public conservation area. Way back, Leon's grandparents owned that piece of timber. When his grandpa died, and left his grandma a widow after only 10 short years of marriage, with 4 children and 7 months pregnant with #5 (Leon's mother), and a farm to manage, Grandma did the only thing that made sense. She sold those 95 acres to the county. Leon and his siblings grew up in those woods and still like to think they kinda belong to them.;) That's where we were headed. (Excuse the family history bunny trail.)

The children and I spent a delightful hour and a half there this morning. The leaves are spectacular right now. Every so often as we walked along, it would suddenly begin 'raining' down leaves on our heads. Peaceful, beautiful, and totally refreshing. We brought some pretties home with us and now have a special centerpiece on the table designed by Jamison and Annika.

And I'm so glad this homeschool mom deviated from the schedule today!