Frolicking amongst the bluebells

Well, we finally did what every other homeschooling family in the entire northern Virginia area does each April, and went to Bull Run (as in the Battle of) last week to see pwetty fuffs.

It's been raining off and on for WEEKS now, so the path was very muddy. Thankfully there were some boards laid across some of the worst paths. (This part was interesting holding a heavy toddler.)

The day was very gray, but I think it made the colors stand out all the more.

Finally after walking through more mud than I've seen since I was a kid playing in the mud pit in our backyard, we suddenly came up to a small river and were surrounded by...

Bluebells!! They were truly gorgeous. They completely transformed an ordinary, swampy Virginia hardwood forest into fairyland.

A very reluctant fairy.

The girls were in heaven with all the little bridges and streams we crossed! We must have stopped at every single rivulet to throw sticks in the water. That might explain why a 1.5 mile trail took us 3 hrs. to complete....

This is the time of year to appreciate trees in their bareness, before the glory of their summer foliage conceals them. Isn't that the coolest looking bumpy trunk above?

These amazing vines made me feel like I was in Fangorn when it was young. I have since learned that they are wild grapevines. I want to go back in the summer to see what they look like with leaves.

Like I said, the girls were in love with the river.

There were lots of other, um, fun logs and stumps to, um, play on too...

As well as evidence that horses had recently passed this way. There were also lots of doggie footprints in the mud -- many of which could be tracked down to the river and back in several places... :)

Oh, and there were bluebells.

And bluebells.

...and bluebells!



The small white ones are "Spring Beauties." Simple name for a cute li'l flower -- and very appropriate.

I envied the people who live right across the river from all this glory.

I came back with the kids later in the week. We invited some friends to come with us so we wouldn't be alone. It turns out almost EVERYONE we knew was already there! We spent a lot of time at the playground before we even started thinking about heading to the trail. :)

Of course, when we finally did, we had to stop at every puddle and pond and poke them with sticks "to check how deep the water is."

The place was transformed in the sunlight. Everything shone with a happy golden glow.

We didn't hike the whole path this time -- probably not even half of it. We came to one part that had a beach-ish area that the kids could climb down to (or in the case of Katie, slide down a muddy slope on your pants to). I should have taken more pictures -- there were kids EVERYWHERE in various stages of wetness. The boy on the left above was up to his waist at one point. I'm not as cool as his mom -- I made the girls only go as far as their boots would let them. (Their socks were still a sorry sight by the end though.) We spent a lot of time here playing in the stream, and actually turned to go back shortly after.

Katie actually walked all the way to end of this log and all the way back without falling -- pretty impressive for a 4-year-old, I thought! I see gold medals for gymnastics in her future... ;)

We had a great day. I'm so glad we went back. It was a great way to spend Easter week. In between rain storms, the weather has been so lovely that we've been spending every moment we can spare outside or at parks. We're getting behind in schoolwork again, but I think the Vitamin D phototherapy is just as important. I'VE been feeling happier lately, and that's all that matters, right? Cuz if Momma ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy.