At Talking Rock Park with Friends

After Owen's soccer game, we ran home to get changed and then drove up to Jasper to have fun with Tabitha and her two boys.  We picked them up and made our way to Talking Rock Park which has a great stream running along next to railroad tracks, a playground and a large open field.

The kids had fun throwing rocks in the water.

And playing on the rocks.

Chloe liked leaning into this tree while sitting on the roots.

Owen fell on some of the rocks in the stream and scraped up his shin pretty badly.  There was quite a bit of blood and tears, so it was awhile before I got more than serious looks like this.

I was proud of my boy for helping push the Youngling in a swing....nice seeing him help out the littler kids!

He played on the trapeze bar, hanging like a monkey and sitting up high.

My little dangle did what she's good at....she dangled.  :)

After getting our fill of the playground, we went for a walk along the railroad tracks.

Chloe hung back and then ran to catch up with us.

She kept running to get ahead while Owen carefully balanced as he walked along on a rail.

We stopped along the side in an area by a gate and some bushes that he wanted to check out.  Owen asked me to take some pictures of him and this is the face I got.  It is his favorite face lately.  I think mainly because it gets such great reactions from others.

Wow, these rails were laid down in 1938!

Chloe had fun playing in the mud.

Time flies when having fun.  We arrived at Talking Rock Park mid-afternoon and already the sun was starting to set.  

I love how well these kids get along with each other! 

Amazing that the kids still had energy, but they did.  They just kept running.

Owen caught a grasshopper.  He named it Jerry.  Where does he come up with these names?

Chloe picked some flowers for me.

Then the kids worked together to hold onto Jerry and chase him down to recapture the poor grasshopper after many, many escapes.

More running, into the sun.  Back and forth they all ran.

Ben found some onions and maybe even grass that he thought were good to chew on.  Silly boy.

Chloe tried blowing on dandelions to make wishes, but they didn't blow apart like the dandelion seedling fuzz flowers.

As we headed back towards the car, a tree summoned the boy to climb up higher than me.

And of course, the girl child had to do the same thing as her brother.  Because she is not to be outdone.  Ever.

I love that the older these two get, the better friends they are becoming.  They still pick at each other and do things to irritate the other intentionally.  They tattle and sometimes they even still hit.  They push each other's buttons.  But for the most part, they have so much fun together.  They spend hours playing with each other and I love that.  I love that they can play and laugh and truly enjoy each other's company.