Ward Family: Family Field Trip to the Jungle

It took Bud and I longer to load all the carseats and boosters than it did to actually drive to the nature trails, or as Cole calls it "the jungle". Zoe was annoyed by the time we arrived.

Bomber studied his bird book on the way there. Bud said he's the only one of us that's ready for chiggers. Check out his socks!

The kids loved the butterflies that were by these bushes in the parking lot.

We thought we would never actually get them on the trail.

Bomber even caught a butterfly.

Bud printed off pictures of different types of trees we would see along the trail and we were going to try to find them. I was the only one who seemed interested. The kids all ran off like it was a race.

They were pretty hard to keep up with most of the time.

We've taught them to look for animals. At one point there was a couple walking towards us. They were dressed for the jungle. They looked like they were on a safari hunt. Cole yells, "Look, white people!" Not sure what that was all about.

It was really beautiful and there was a lot to see.

It took Zoe about the first 20 minutes to stop being annoyed. I think the kids are really going to stress her out this summer. She was worried they were going to fall in the marsh or get lost, and they didn't listen to her when she tried to tell them what to do.

Bud saw a snake swimming in the marsh.

Hadley wasn't amused.

Then we walked a little further and Zoe and I found a whole nest of snakes. Bud took these pictures. I screamed and ran away.

Then Cole yelled, "Those snakes are freaking me out to death!" He wouldn't come down off the observation deck because he was scared. Brewer went up and talked him down.

Hayden was probably the bravest of all the kids (and me).

So Zoe held her hand. Bud pinched my ankle when I wasn't looking and I might have peed my pants a little. I was pretty jumpy.

We found other interesting things on the trail like these trumpet flowers. Bomber even tried to play one like a trumpet.

We also found this huge Blue Heron (I think that's what Bud called it)

This little deer wasn't very far from the boys and they didn't even notice.

They did notice the poop, or scat as Bud called it, on the bridge.

Brewer told Cole it was butterfly poop. Then he added, "Butterflies can actually poop."

Brewer was acting like a trail guide (who didn't actually know what he was talking about). He kept giving Cole information. Here they are looking at ants and Brewer informed Cole that they were black ants and they don't hurt you.

Bud showed us how to identify trees.

Then we saw this big, pretty butterfly. After we saw it Bud told me to go ahead and walk in front of him, then he announced, "That's a big BUTT...erfly." Funny huh?

Bomber ran ahead of us on the trail and then I heard him yell, "A real snake!" Bud was really far behind us with Hadley and Brewer and I freaked out. I yelled for the other kids to go get Bud, because he would know what to do. Then I yelled, "Bomber, can you make it to me?" Yes, I'm a horrible aunt and didn't run to his side. I feel bad about that now. He screamed and ran to me and said the snake, that looked like a black rope, ran into the grass.

I was happy to make it back to the visitors' center.

We looked at a couple of turtles in the pond and then headed inside.

There was a fake fish in this showcase and Brewer kept tapping the glass and yelling at it to move. I'm not sure he'll ever actually get a job as a trail guide.

Bomber will now have a great story to tell about surviving a near snake attack!

When I asked Cole to name 5 animals he saw on the trail he started with a kangaroo. I must of looked at him with disbelief because he tried to convince me it really did hop past him.

We stayed a couple of hours and they were a little tired when we got back.

We ate lunch and ice cream then Michelle and I went jogging. We jogged about 20 minutes and then we quit because it was hot and I fell. Yes, I tripped and fell and rolled. I landed in the grass so I didn't get hurt. Michelle totally babied me after that though.