Off the beaten path

We decided to go out to the Overland Park Arboretum today because...

Tuesdays are free.

Also, it is hot, but not as hot as it's going to be very, very soon. If we are going to check this sucker off our Summer Bucket List, we need to get 'er done. Today. 

(To be perfectly truthful, we didn't put this on the Summer Bucket list. But, I did leave about a foot and a half of space on the bottom so that when we do unplanned fun things, I can add it to the bottom and then check it off. Because that is the way my brain works. I need to have checklist credit!)

We called the McCauleys and we headed out there. 

We walked around the pond and saw the coy fish and then headed out toward the bird blind. Unfortunately, there were  wasps in the hut and the kids refused to go in. So, we headed out on the Bluff Loop Trail. The kids were having fun looking for hiking sticks and picking up some of the hundreds of snails sliming across the path. 

Soon we came upon a spot where the kids could repel down to a stream bed and skip rocks in a shallow riverbed.

Which of course turned into wading up the ankles...

And then the knees...

Which led to Mathew sinking into a mudding bank and losing a shoe.  Which I thought they would find pretty quickly on their own as I watch from up on the trail. Which didn't happen, so I found myself up to my knees in mud as well. 

We could not find that dang shoe!

Finally, Mathew and Ethan put their head together and said a prayer for help. I always worry that we won't find it and their faith will be dented. But, as usual, they found the shoe within minutes and I was reminded that I need to have more faith. 

I love those boys.