What an incredible day!  I hardly know where to start.  Each Happy Trails event we do gets better and better. 

This outing was so fantastic, for the mere fact that in just over one hour, kids and their parents were exposed to so many gifts from the natural world.  We started by balancing on a manufactured log course.  This was fun, but it was about to get way more interesting.  We walked along the trail above the river, then began to explore the area around a large downed cottonwood.  The kids had a fantastic time climbing, and their parents got to practice taking a deep breath!

We found our way down to the frozen Mississippi, and had what can only be described as a magical time.  We learned that the river was safe to walk on, here on the edge.  We learned what our bodies were capable of doing, as we attempted much climbing and jumping.  We learned that beavers must live here, as evidenced by the chewed logs.  We learned about the cycles of life and death, as we saw evidence of a coyote's rabbit meal.  We used magnifying glasses, and got a closer look at what we thought we knew.

Mostly, we learned about ourselves, as parents faced their apprehensions head on (will she get hurt climbing?  Is the ice really safe?), and kids (and their grown-ups) played and explored their world, and their places in it.