Outdoor Adventures

Yesterday we went to the nature trail and Damian came along. Halfway up the trail there's a shady spot with a little river and we stopped for some photos.

Damian found a lot of fun stuff to do, like climbing this big tree.

"Look, no hands!" Damian sat over an old, broken branch and grinned.

"The world is just so big for a little guy like me," Damian looked out over the horizon. "I wish Atlas was here. He'd be fun to explore with."

"But I guess I'll have a cool story to tell him when we get home. Now, let's go see the river."

Damian had convinced me to let him bring his new Nessy toy because I told him there would be a river. So, Damian helped me take some pictures of his monster in its element.

He's attacking!

He looks pretty neat. Too bad Damian doesn't have a fountain at home to play with his dinosaur with.

Across the river, Damian found a log to sit on.

I took his picture, while he sat nice and smiled.

I wonder if Atlas would like a copy of this portrait for his wall.

Then Damian thought he might live on the wild side and walk out onto the dam. I admonished him to be careful, but he assured me he would.

Damian looked down into the clear water. "I can see the bottom of the river! And, look! Skeeter bugs!"

Then he decided to sit by the falls and just watch the water going over.

Waterfalls are fascinating, and I think this might be the first one Damian's ever seen. He would've sat there all day if I had let him.

For anyone looking at this and quietly panicking because I put my doll that close to the water, don't worry. I was panicking the whole time too. I took the pictures really quickly, and I made sure Damian was solid as a rock before walking away from him. I wouldn't do this often, and I don't really recommend it. While the photos were certainly great, I tend to worry a lot, and I spent the entire time fearing Damian would fall in and be swept down the falls. But, no dolls were harmed in the making of this blog post.

Then Damian wandered over to the bench by the path and climbed up to sit down.

Another hiker (my sister) settled down beside him. "Here," she said. "If you toss this rock into the water and make a wish, it will come true."

While the other hiker got up and disappeared down the trail, Damian eagerly took the little rock over to the bridge.

"I wish every day could be this much fun," Damian tossed his stone into the water with a little plunk.

Finally, he found a shady spot to sit back and relax. "Ah, that was a great afternoon!"

~SilverStar-Burst