spider lilies

Despite the fairly high chance of rain, we decided to venture out to one of our local state parks for a hike. The beautiful and very rare Rocky Shoal Spider Lilies are in bloom right now, and they are so amazing. The hike is very easy and kid-friendly, and we only got a few raindrops on the trail.




These pictures cannot do justice to the amazing sight of the spider lilies. Times like these make me wish that I had a much more professional camera with a really good "zoom" function. Maybe the look of Nova's face peeking over the rails of the observation deck will be enough to show how much we love these flowers!!




On the way back up the trail, we stopped at our favorite spot for splashing and wading. Indigo picked up several beautiful river rocks which are now on the nature table. Clover scared a water snake, and played with her friend Lela. Our friends Carrie & Mike and their kids added to the fun of the trail and the river play.




We are one river-loving family. Every time, we visit that state park, Willow talks about how we should build our home on the "island" in the middle of the river. Then we could just walk out the front door and play all day every day!



Even the soaking wet walk back to the van was lots of fun!