We’ve done so much this summer already and we’re only three weeks in!  I feel like we haven’t stopped since school let out (really since before school let out!).  This week is a little slower for us so I’m taking time to catch up on pictures and writing and sleep.  Who knew?  If you actually take time to sleep, everything goes more smoothly! 

Last week was Cousin Camp in Memphis (and the week before was Cousin Camp here).  We had so much fun and had some really great adventures.  Some of them were old standbys (like the Children’s Museum of Memphis) and some were things we’ve never done before.  On Friday (yes, I’m working backwards), we went to the Lichterman Nature Center.  Gracie, Abigail & I had never been there before.  It was fantastic!  Sometimes, in the midst of all the craziness of life, it’s nice to get away to somewhere peaceful.

Lichterman is a nature preserve right in the heart of Memphis.  It’s between several busy streets, but you feel like you’re out in the middle of the wilderness.  It was so peaceful to walk around and look at the plants.  I brought my macro lens with me and I’m so glad that I did!

Here’s a gumball from a Sweetgum tree:

 

and an ant (?) on a flower about to bloom (the girls proclaimed this picture disgusting):

 

I thought these tiny little flowers were beautiful!

 

I was walking along a path and saw this little flower stalk.  When I looked through my viewfinder, I saw the bug.  Macro photography really does open up a whole other world!

 

I think the girls enjoyed walking through the trails.  Gracie liked it because she had a map to follow – that’s what she’s holding.  (She’s in to maps right now!)

 

Emmie spied this little furry caterpillar on the walkway.  We couldn’t figure out if this was the front or the back of it…the final conclusion was this was the front.

 

Ruby, as always, was my companion in lollygagging!    She is always the one to hang back with me while I’m taking pictures.  When everyone else has wandered off, she’s always there saying, “Look at this Aunt Daffy!”  Have I mentioned I love that girl?  She found an awesome seed pod in the meadow and pointed out some of the beautiful lilypads.

 

The center has a backyard animal center that houses some rescued animals and lets you get a view of the fish and turtles in the pond.  There was a crazy squirrel there that I swear tried to break down a wall of glass to get at the girls.  Seriously, it was throwing itself at the window so hard that I thought it was going to give itself a head injury.  I’m not a huge fan of squirrels…let’s just say they’re second only to birds in the order of things I’m not too fond of!

 

Here a a couple of pictures of my own wild animal – this girl is going full-tilt this summer…if we both survive the next nine weeks, it might be a small miracle!

 

The Lichterman Nature Center was definitely a great experience.  We’ll be going back again.  We only saw a small part of the center because we got there about an hour before they closed.  Next time, I’ll wear more sensible shoes…tennis shoes would definitely have made walking the rock paths a lot easier!  We have free summer memberships to both Lichterman and the Pink Palace, but even if you have to pay for admission, it would be worth it!

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