Branching Out

Our favorite hiking woods are closed, indefinitely! It saddens my heart to think that we may not be able to hike there again... it has been our family's special place since we moved to Minnesota. I wrote about the woods here, here, here, and here, but it looks as if those memories might have to be sufficient. The boys still point every time we pass by and ask, "Is it still closed?" Yes... it's still closed. And it may not open again.

We didn't do much hiking this summer... Paul was very busy at work and we did a lot of traveling. Plus, fall has always been our favorite time for getting out into the woods. So I didn't miss the Hiking Woods too much until we decided to go for a hike last week. "You mean, we have to try something new?" I thought. Adventurers that we are, we set out to see about a place called Crosby Farm in St. Paul. Not as close as our hiking woods, but still very convenient.

And friends... I was blown away. I felt like we were in an enchanted forest! After they moved beyond the fact that there were no horses, cows and pigs at Crosby Farm ("Then why is it called a farm??"), the boys and their imaginations took flight. They became jungle explorers, knights on horses, beachcombers. They were eaten by a massive tiger, they built a home in a hollow tree, they discovered the "five wonders of Crosby Park" (named by Max). When it started getting cold, we headed back toward the parking lot for some hot chocolate.

I can't believe I'm saying it, but should "our" hiking woods never reopen, perhaps I would be satisfied to adopt Crosby Farm as our new special place.

"Someone carved a face on this log!"

Who knew all we needed to get a great smile was to throw a handful of leaves on Dad?

Look at that handsome man

The tree house