Creekside

Today we received a delightful invitation out to the Grover Farm- which is located a little past Columbia, Mississippi- to let the kids spend the day at the creek. I said yes, please! and we headed off to spend the day with friends. And that’s how we ended up spending an entire day on a creek bed, munching and chatting while the kids wore themselves out to the point of complete exhaustion. Also, today I got sunburned for the very first time this summer. (Where was Kitty to make sure that I reapplied my sunscreen??) A few thoughts from a delightful lazy day today:

• Kids thrive outside
• Minnows are absolutely worth the effort to catch
• There is nothing better than a line of rope strung over the water to keep the kids busy for hours
• Max loves to throw rocks in the water
• I love my friends here in Mississippi
• I enjoy hearing kids answer their mothers with “Ma’am?” when their name is called
• There is freedom living in a place where things aren’t scheduled to death, so that everyone- even parents with teenagers- can pick up and head to the creek with a couple hours notice
• I adored seeing the older teenagers playing with the little kids
• The creek (which is fed by two natural springs) was deliciously chill- a welcome change from the bathwater temps at the pool these days
• I like the freedom of rural living. The kids can run and run and run and not bother anyone.
• Ernie got to tube down the swift moving creek with the big kids and he loved hanging out with the older crowd.
• There is nothing more interesting to little boys, than looking through marshy grass to see what might be living there (luckily they were really loud and they didn’t disturb any snakes)
• The church is true no matter where you live. It was a blessing to share feelings of hope and faith today while watching the kids play and feeling the cool creek water on my feet.

(I have very few pictures from today since Max kept trying to drag me through the water and I was highly concerned about our nice SLR getting damaged. I really need to buy a small pocket camera.)