Leaf Collecting

A few weeks back I took the kids to a nearby park to hike and collect some leaves to decorate the house. I used the opportunity to play with my camera, trying out different settings and taking lots of shots of the kids and things we saw. Here's the lengthy result: Heading out.

This is the view to the right of where we were walking in the above picture.

The foliage was a little early, but some of it was just right.

Hilly West Virginia. This park is on the edge of town. It has a beautiful view of the outlying hills.

Heading into the woods now.

I was trying out different settings on my camera. I found some that really helped to bring out the color of the trees.

Ben found a tree that grew the most enormous thorns.

Nicely camouflaged moth.

Running to catch up. :)

Looking at mushrooms.

Out in a clearing.

Calvin's very long stick.

Back to the pond.

Ben kind of blended in with the brown part of the woods. He kept hiding from us. In the end, he climbed this tree to say hi when we caught up with him.

Heading up the hill towards the parking lot.

We stopped to enjoy a gazebo.

We gazed at the clouds and discussed what shapes they looked like.

A very nice hike and morning together outside. Ready to head home for some lunch...