Little Man and I have changed up our routine this week, and we are both loving it so far. Each morning, we take a short trail ride, to the dump or the big beach and then back home. Tuesday, we did run into town for some necessities, but it was still a getaway out of the house. Each morning, as we see the different animals, I call them out, and point to them so Little Man can see what is passing by.

We see the usuals each morning: chipmunks, crows, cardinals. Yesterday morning, we scared a mink as we were on our way to the dump. I have never seen a mink in the wild before, and it was so neat! Little Man missed seeing it, because it was so quick crossing the trail in front of us. We have seen several deer as well. Last night, before I started getting dinner ready, Mama deer came into the backyard to graze for her dinner. After dinner, she came back, with her two fawns, and she grazed a bit while watching them enjoy their meal. This morning, we saw 6 chipmunks, 4 turkeys, 1 crow, 1 blue jay, and a muskrat! The muskrat was a first for me; I had to google when we got home just to make sure I really knew what it was we saw.

We are taking daily walks, they are just after lunch. Little Man gets so excited for the walks – when I tell him we’re going to go for the walk, he runs to the front door and grabs his shoes. He brings them to me, one at a time, and then climbs up on the couch for me to put them on him. I toss him in the stroller, grab my water bottle and his cup of water and add some ice cubes to each, and away we go. We are doing about 2 miles on these walks, and they are tough. His stroller is heavy, and with his roughly 25 pounds in there, it does not make it easy to walk up the hills around here.

Each day, we go a bit farther on these walks. We discovered a new street yesterday; and found some gorgeous cabins that overlook the lake. On our way back home, we saw a huge, bright green caterpillar making his way across the street. Little Man was tickled pink at the sigh of this thing inching across the road. I am really loving this new routine. Yes, it is hotter than anything outside when we take the walks, but we are getting outside, and it is a good way to relax after enjoying lunch. We get to breathe in the fresh air, hear the wind and the insects, see the neighbours as they drive by, get out of the house, and just clear our minds for a bit.