Marvelous Monday #1

I started a new tradition with my niece today. Every Monday, I plan to pick her up from school and spend the rest of the day with her. Today was our first Monday, and it was four hours of FANTASTIC!

First, we went to play Pirate Golf (putt-putt) and then had dinner at Sushi House (she had miso soup and tamago with rice, I had miso soup, tea and a California roll).

Then we went back to my neck of the woods, and I took her to see the Sycamore Log Church which was built in 1933. We signed our names in the guest book and she noticed that the piano wasn't dusty at all, so they must still use it during services.

Afterward, we drove further down the road and saw a snake, so we stopped to look at it (from the car, of course). About a hundred yards after that, we saw a tarantula crossing the road, so we got out to see it up close.

We ended up at the Ruth & Paul Henning Conservation area and waded in the stream. I taught her how to skip stones and now she's a pro. We collected some cool looking rocks, saw minnows, crawdads, water gliders, spiders and a sleeping bumblebee. She found a broken branch that served as an excellent walking stick, and we saved it to use during our next exploration.

We plan to hike the Homesteaders Trail (a 3 mile loop) at some point, but maybe on a Saturday when we can get going early. On the drive back to my house, we saw a herd of white-tailed deer! It was a day full of critters.

Then we took Lola for a little walk and went to the park in my neighborhood where Bailey played on the monkey-bars and successfully avoided playing with a strange little boy with a rash. All-in-all, our day was a huge success! My favorite quote of hers was, "This is the best day ever, I don't want it to end!" Score!