To the creek and back...

This past week we headed out to our beloved creek...and it was quite an adventure.

As a sidenote, this summer has been especially cruddy when it comes to weather!  It hasn't been particulary warm and most days have been cloudy until mid-afternoon when the sun finally breaks through!  Murphy's law that this summer we signed up for LakeShore Athletic Club so we could enjoy their outdoor pools, eh?  Oh well, enough of that, we decided regardless of a cold and misty morning we were going to enjoy the creek!

Fortunately, we live close enough to the creek that we like to walk through our neighborhood to access the water.  Today though, as we were walking our normal route, I noticed 6 or 7 bees fly out of a tree right in front of us.  I wasn't too concerned and we continued on.  Maybe as an afterthought, I glimpsed back just in time to see another bee fly out right as our oldest son was passing the tree.  Without any provocation, that bee, a wasp, flew right at G's leg and stung him!  I'm sure the entire Northwest heard the resulting scream! 

I don't blame G at all for the scream.  That was one mean wasp!!  I grabbed a water bottle from the stroller to spray some cool water onto G's red and puffy leg.  I felt so bad for him.  He was pretty upset about it all, but tried to calm down.  It had only been a few minutes since G had been stung, when the neighbor who's home we were in front of came out with some ice in a baggie and a paper towel.  She was wonderful and we were very grateful for her help.  After a few minutes with the ice on the sting site, G thought he was doing well enough for us to head on to the creek.  I was especially impressed with how gracious G was to our neighbor.  He thanked her for her help in such a sincere way that my mother's heart swelled with gratitude.  Here's a quick look at G's leg.

After the excitement of the sting, we headed over to the pond, just to check and see if the foilage might have cleared out a bit.  It hadn't, and our rule keeps us out of the pond when it's covered in green (that's my rule--and I'm sticking with it!!)  But we did come across this slimy friend on the path. 

Oh the joy!  G's hand is in the picture for size comparison.  Yes, I was extremely careful pushing the stroller past the slug so as not to release any of that yucky sliminess!  Ugh!

Finally we made it to the creek, and wouldn't you know it, but the clouds started breaking up letting the sun break through to warm things up!  Ahhhh, the creek!

Today was a pretty big day as D ventured out into the creek with his older brother for the first time ever!  Generally D would keep to the bank and shallow water, but not today!  G did a great job showing him the ropes!!!

In fact, D even caught his first crawdad!!  YAHOO!!

I love how excited G was for D's first catch!  As a mom, having your kids love eachother is truly one of the best things in the world!  D was pretty happy about his first catch!

Into the temporary holding tank it went, and yes, J was actively involved as the caretaker!

Such a nice time with some pretty big accomplishments overall. 

 Gotta love our creek...gotta love my boys!