A Morning at the Creek

On some mornings, the weather is just too beautiful, and the outdoors are just too inviting to stay inside and do schoolwork/chores, etc.  On those mornings, we put off these other tasks, which can always wait, and try to take in the gorgeous blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us.  Sometimes, we have to be completely intentional about taking advantage of these opportunities by letting go of the "to do" lists and just be in awe for a little while of God's beautiful creation.

When Drew and the kids and I were riding our bikes along the trail near our home a couple of evenings ago, I noticed that the creek was low.  I stepped off of my bike and peaked down from the trail and noticed how spectacular the creek bed looked without water in some areas--yet in other areas the water was flowing rapidly, creating a tiny bit of whitewater.  And both contrasting areas looked equally amazing.  I so badly wanted to explore the area.  I probably sounded like a little child to Drew, as I begged him to step off of his bike and go take a peak at the beauty as well.  I had hoped he would be so awe-inspired that he would want to just get off our bikes and explore it.  It looked so picturesque and I was composing photos in my head right there.  But, it was getting late and it was time to head back to our home for some front yard fun, baths for the kids and then bedtime routines. 

The next morning, I had one thing on my mind--get to that creek!  And that is just what we did.  I could have stayed there much longer, but Miss Abbey needed to go potty after an hour and a half there--ha!   The sound of running water probably didn't help the urgency.  So, we quickly headed back after a ton of fun at the creek.  Here are some photos of our time there.

As soon as we arrived, Luke and I were chatting about something and I heard "on no my feet are wet" from Abbey.  When Abbey sees a body of water, her first instinct is to get it.  It seems this time that her instinct preceded her being ready for it, ha! I turned around and saw this.  And this was the first photo.

Obviously, I purposely dressed her in water shoes so she could play and explore in the water. 

I reminded her that it was completely fine to get her feet wet. 

Luke was excited to have a turn at attempting to catch fish and other fun critters.   Abbey got the first turn with the net, as she guessed closest to the number I had in my head.  

Abbey had attempted when we first arrived to catch some of the fish.  But, she quickly realized they were much to fast.  She became content with throwing things into the water and watching the current take them away.

They were both climbing down this little ridge in the dry creek bed and they looked too cute together.  So, I asked them if I could take a rare photo of the two of them together. They obliged and I was thrilled.

They even put their arms around each other. 

 

But then we were quickly off for more exploring.  It was crazy to recall how just a couple of months ago the creek level was halfway up some of those trees on the side. It was fun to get to see the actual bottom of the creek bed though.

Some longhorn cattle came over for a little visit.  You can see a brown and white one up there in the middle of the photo.

Abbey spotted a brown cow and a calf and was saying in this picture, "Awww, he is just so cute."

She was elaborating in this photo about just how cute the cow was.

Abbey's turn with the net again.

 

While Abbey had a turn with the net, Luke was experimenting in the water with sticks.  He played does it sink or float, he tried to create a whirlpool, and he threw them in to watch the current take them away.  It was fun to see how the location of where the stick entered the current determined the speed at which the stick traveled.  So, we tried to find the location of the current that made the stick travel the fastest.

Once Abbey saw all the fun Luke was having with the sticks, she was done with the net. 

Concerned she was missing out on something, she began doing the same experiments as Luke.

If you look carefully and closely, you may see some baby fish that we tried to catch. 

The water is so clear, so we could see everything in the water.

The dry creek bed was just so cool.  the texture was neat and it was fun to see all the ridges that the water has made into the bed over the many, many years.

Luke was using the method of, "stick the net in right by the rapid" to see if fish could be forced into the net.

Look at my big stick mommy. 

One last turn with the net--trying to catch some things in a little pool of water she found.

Ok, enough of that--back to my favorite--throwing things into the water.

 

I just couldn't get over how gorgeous it was!  We will be back soon!