one on one

during this "transition" time, i feel like oakley and i haven't been getting as much one-on-one time as we did living in our own house, so i decided to plan a little outing--just me and my boy.  we had so much fun!  we went to a little nature preserve place near brian's parents' home.  it has rescued animals you can see and some really neat hiking trails.  

oakley was not a fan of the animals until i explained to him it is just like the zoo.  he spent most of the time around the animals hiding behind me or wrapped around my leg.  (i will admit, though, the owls were creepy!)  after the animals, we walked about 1/4 mile down one of the trails.  this took for-ev-er because someone stopped to try and pick up every. single. rock.  it was fine, though.  he had so much fun exploring and we had no where else to be.  he kept telling me he saw a "ratoon, mommy! over here!" (racoon) and pointing in a random direction.  i never saw it, but who knows?  maybe he really did see one. :)

oakley actually liked watching the fox

not so sure about the animals

hiding behind my leg from the crows.  i can't blame him.  i'm not a fan of crows either

we stopped on our way back to have a picnic lunch.  oakley loves picnics, so he really enjoyed it.  he found 3 caterpillars, too.  they were the fuzzy, cute ones.  (one was so strange looking, with these white bumps on its back, so i asked oakley to stay away from that one, not knowing if it had some sort of disease or if it was poisonous.)  he "shared" his cheese with them and kept saying, "i touch them nice!" as he gently poked them.  i did not, however, enjoy the picnic time as much as oakley.  well, i enjoyed oakley's company, but i've never been much of a "bug" person.  i try to hide that from oakley so he can decide for himself if he likes them.  we sat down on the bench and were welcomed by a nice, big roach.  ew. gross. get me out of here.  then the caterpillar, as cute and harmless as it was, kept trying to crawl on me.  i had bugs buzzing in my ears and honestly, i was just freaked out and not very hungry after i saw that roach.  i'm such a girl!  but, we made it through, even if i was squatting in front of the bench while oakley sat there, oblivious to the "nature" around him.  

creepy fuzzy caterpillar

we finished off our outing with a piggy back ride up the huge hill.  it was such a fun outing.  i am so blessed to have sweet little oakley as my boy.  i love you monkey!!

ok, this hill was so much bigger in person :)