Sunday, January 8, 2012

Is it really January?

Last year I think we really got spoiled here in the southeast and we had 4 true seasons. We had a very cold winter with two good snows, a long nice spring, a l.o.n.g. hot/humid summer, and a very nice fall.

So I guess it’s our time to have a warm winter…although I’m not super thrilled about it. Don’t get me wrong, the weather has been beautiful here but when it’s winter, I want cold. I know it sounds crazy for me to say, and on one hand it’s been really nice to be able to be outside and not freeze, but it’s winter and I like for winter to be cold.

But, yesterday we sucked up the unseasonably warm winter, put on our short-sleeves, packed a picnic, and went out for a day of “family fun”. We took the kids and headed to Shelley Lake here in Raleigh.

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We have not been there yet in the 5 years we’ve been living here, but we had a great time. It’s a beautiful lake with a three mile trail around it and a park for the kids to play. When we got there the kids wanted to play at the park. It wasn’t very crowded at the time so we let them play and dig in the sand.

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After they played for a while we decided to go for a little “hike” around the lake.

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We didn’t know it but there are ducks and geese to feed. There were also a ton of sea gulls. They were everywhere and flying so close to our heads…it was crazy. We only had our lunches and didn’t want to part with those, but some really nice people gave us some of their old bread so our kids could feed the ducks too.

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Dallas started getting a little freaked out by the birds flying so close to us and we didn’t want to take everyone’s bread, so after a few minutes we were on our way.

It wasn’t very long until Hunter started complaining that his legs were hurting and he was hungry. We knew we wouldn’t make it to the other side of the lake where there was flat areas of land to spread out a blanket for a picnic. We started looking around and found this great little “nook” along the bank. There was a little path down to the water and a small area where we could sit. We spread out the blanket and “copped-a-squat” {name that movie} and commenced to having a picnic.

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After eating, the kids decided they wanted to throw sticks in the water. It was so fun. Hunter found all kinds of sticks. He’d get close to the water and say “Ready and steady and go” and let the stick go. I just love that saying…not sure if it’s one of his pirate sayings, but I think it’s so cute.

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It was such a great day. The weather was beautiful even if it felt like it should be March outside. No one complained, and it was  wonderful spending time with my sweet family.

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