a walk in the park

Today we headed down to Percy Warner Park in southwest Nashville. It's pretty close to where Jaclyn and I went to the Belle Meade Plantation.

We left at about 9:00 am from campus and got back this afternoon around 4:45 pm. I rode with Don & J.P. on our '90 IH bus (looks like a school bus) and actually did the navigating for the caravan because we were in front. This was a little worrisome, because none of us had ever been there before.

I had fun taking pictures and playing with Olivia and Gabby before and after lunch. Olivia likes to "take" the pictures, by me holding the camera and her pushing the shutter button. Don snagged my camera and took this picture of Olivia and me drawing in my sketch book. I drew her a bird and she erased it.

Nikie got her time in with the girls too. You'll just have to take my word that this is actually Nikie, since her hair is covering her face! Olivia was pretty worn out by the time we were finished eating lunch. She wanted to swing for about 2 hours (it felt like), so I pushed her for a long time. She was pretty quiet and I thought she was going to fall asleep in the swing, but we had to leave before she could.

I love this picture of Gabby. She was laughing at Tristan (Michael Smith's grandson) winding the swings up and watching them untwist. Gabby is a soccer fanatic and practices all the time. She told us Thursday that she scored 18 goals at her last game! I wonder if there was a goalie?

We had about 50 other people sharing the same general area as our group. They were a Christian motorcycle group and some of them even had heard of Highland before. Several of our kids stood around talking to them and mooched some "real" hamburgers off of them! It was kind of funny. Those people probably think we starve the kids here because they don't get meat.

Don & J.P. brought 4 nice big chairs to sit in. I think they might have stolen them from Little Debbie or something. That's what they remind me of, anyway.

I am in no way a fan of fungus, but this shelf mushroom was too cool not to take a picture of. I lined up so the sun was directly behind it. It was at least a foot wide. Chadd Watkins and I saw it while we were birding on the trail around the nature center at the park. It ended up being a mostly mosquito-slapping trip, but we did see a LOT of American Redstarts, a Black-and-White Warbler, a Hermit Thrush, a Magnolia Warbler, a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, plus the usuals.

I saw a Black-Throated Green Warbler, a Palm Warbler, and a Red-Eyed Vireo in my walnut tree this morning too. Thank goodness for migration!

Because I know your Sabbath wouldn't be complete without it . . . here's another nature pic. This chipmunk tried to hide, but I found it anway. It's not a great picture or anything and I had to crop it to get it this close. I just like chipmunks, except when they're singing in trios!