{into nature}

{into nature} is a weekly Monday post inspiring the exploration of nature. It is a grassroots effort to combat the nature deficit disorder in our current generations. Please join me in this movement back into nature by sharing your own nature inspiration, whether shared through photographs, words, poetry…. leave a link here in the day's comments for all to enjoy.

“For children, nature comes in many forms. A newborn calf; a pet that lives and dies; a worn path through the woods; a fort nested in stinging nettles; a damp, mysterious edge of a vacant lot- whatever shape nature takes, it offers each child an older, larger world… nature does not steal time; it amplifies it.” -Richard Louv

*****

i caught a serious wanderlust bug last week.  the time spent at our house left me terribly restless, so i found myself taking daytrips all week.  nothing too far- with big vacations coming up we are trying to conserve funds.  but just far enough and long enough to ease some of that wanderlust.

an evening fishing trip.  while tanner and papa fished, noah and i found a small creek to explore.

an entire evening spent in the blueberry fields.  my favorite summer evening activity.  this time we brought along cousin for her first blueberry picking adventure.

an entire day spent at the beach with gram.  lots of swimming, some sand castle building, chasing sea gulls, and a picnic lunch.

a two hour hike, just duke and me.  oh the ground we covered :)

a late afternoon exploration of an abandoned state campground.  with lots of fantasizing about making the log cabin our home.

^^teva feet.  this is not a picture showing off my awesome shoes (although the fabric of my skirt is pretty awesome, right?).  this is a call for help.  teva feet is a phrase my friend came up for the horrible hurting of the feet after doing any sort of extended walking/hiking in tevas.  it sucks.  my feet are killing me.  so i'm wondering, do you have a favorite brand of sandals that you recommend for light hiking?  i swear hiking in my rainbow flip flops is more comfortable than in these things!