my little monkey.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love my neighborhood? If you are an outdoor enthusiast, which we are, this neighborhood has so much to offer. The possibilities are endless for mine and P's weekly outdoor adventures. We have hiking trails and green space. Waterfalls and reservoirs. Picnic pavilions, golf cart paths, old cemeteries, and more. We are always finding something new to discover. And, yes, I said cemeteries. And, no, this does not bother us one bit. It's just a piece of history. Apparently, there were a ton of old family cemeteries on this land when the developers started their developing. The story has been told to us a time or two. They hit a casket while cutting the roads through the community, and the county told them they must preserve the graves. And as the development progressed, more and more tombstones were found, in small groupings, scattered throughout the thousands of acres of the community. So the developers put their heads together, and being the great developers that they are, they decided to create small areas of green space around these small cemeteries. Beautiful little areas of green space, fenced off in split rails, some containing benches and historic markers, and all allowing the deceased to rest in peace. And beauty. Anyway, these small cemeteries are just one of the many unique little areas that we love to explore on our little "Mommy and Me" outdoor adventures.

Today's walk was one of the greatest. We took the wagon down the sidewalk to the end of the road and then we headed into the woods following one of our favorite hiking trails. We discovered a once dried up creek has been revived and is now flowing once again. We watched birds and squirrels and a cute couple kissing on the park bench. We took pictures of the vivid fall leaves. And we stopped for other photo ops as P deemed necessary. P actually said to me today, "Mama, out. There, cheeeeese." He really gets me. Because this particular photo op was definitely worthy of a short break from our hike to snap some pictures. He amazes me at how much he understands. I love this little guy. And at the end of our walk, we headed to the fence line of one of the cemeteries and gazed in at the stately old oak trees that are contained within. And P climbed on the fence like a monkey. And then rolled down the hill a hundred times.


Today was a good day. And to make it even better, Taylor put up the Christmas trees.