Mary Vagle Nature Center

Meeting the snakes.

Eating lunch.

Exploring the center.

Watching the ducks and geese.

Hiking the trail.

Loving the leaves.

Discovering an abandoned building.

Jumping from the dirt mound.

The summer before last, I began to get an itch for something more to our homeschooling… Adventure and outdoorsy stuff was what I was craving.  Of course, that takes a bit of time, some planning, and sacrificing of something else.  For the greater part of last year, I decided that I would bookmark local hiking places, parks, etc. to try to get to “some day.”  Last year was such a busy year with my husband’s schedule, planned vacations, teaching 2 classes, and foster care stuff that we simply couldn’t get out much.

Fast forward to this year.  I took a step back with my teaching responsibilities and allowed myself to drop off the kids once a week to be educated by others.  My husband’s schedule changed for the better.  We officially adopted our sweet Xavy, so we have no more appointments.  I can breathe again!!!

Before the school year began, I spent some time compiling all my bookmarks into a word document.  The “some day” was here… I could finally try some of the adventures I wanted to try!  Unfortunately, I accidentally deleted the document and haven’t had a chance to redo it.  But, I still have all the bookmarks and we are slowly crossing a few of those places off our list.

The Mary Vagle Nature Center was top for the list since 1)  it is free, and 2) it is close to home.  In fact, I will not be crossing i off the list, but rather adding it to the “Must do again and again” list.  We had a great time enjoying the place, which we had all to ourselves.  The only negative was that the winds began to pick up, so we cut our hike a bit short.  I’m looking forward to gong back some time when the wind is not so strong.  I just love discovering these little treasures!