Another week, another hike

The girls and I got another hike in today which is a good thing because Wednesdays are our normal hiking/nature excursion days and it is supposed to rain tomorrow. The weather was perfect today- the sun was out with a nice cool breeze. It was an unexpected hike, so we didn't go too far in, but it was a great new discovery that we are going to have to do again especially with Sam because there were some fun looking steep parts that I didn't dare do on my own with the three little ones (Amelia, Lucy and Joy- Leila is still in school). I love discovering new hiking trails. 

 I love to see how excited the girls are to go on the trails, it is really contagious. They love discovering new flowers, seeds, pinecones, birds and whatever else they can spy. Mia is a wonderful leader, she forges the way. Lucy likes to hang back by me a lot of the time and then sometimes she gets brave and goes discovering more with Mia. And Joy just loves being outside. On this particular trip somehow she got her hands on a pinecone and she gnawed on that for quite a bit- who knew they could be great teething toys?