Family Walk

We started a new family thing that I'm really enjoying. After dinner is over and everything is cleaned up, we go for a walk/ride around the block. It's the most amazing change in our life. It's quite possible that no one in my family gets as much out of it as I do, but it's fun enough that we even hooked Chad. You probably already know this, but walking around the block is a great science and social studies activity for almost everyone. We pick up old, brown magnolia leaves and check them out. Then, we crunch them up in our hands. Cade loves it. We stop to observe ants carrying huge chunks of food down the seams in the concrete sidewalk. We talk about the danger of 'The Street' and the safety of 'The Sidewalk.' Amazingly, we've discovered that we have neighbors. Prior to this activity, we assumed that the houses in our neighborhood were owned by phantoms. It turns out that we were the phantoms. Neighbors exclaim to us, "Oh! I know that house, we always wondered who lived there!"

Mostly, though, I love watching my family walk together - no arguing, no worries (save those related to The Street), no electronics, no canned lighting. Just the sun, the breeze, the neighbors, and God all around us.

**contented sigh**

Last night, I ventured out with one piece of electronics and shot a few pictures.