Nature Walks

It was a day in May, when Gray  (did you catch my rhyming there?) suggested we take a walk up around Silver Lake. It was a nice Sunday afternoon adventure. We remembered trips to the lake before, when Landon was just a baby, shortly before Cooper was born ...

We are missing Landon in these family photos (and experiences!)

Closer to home, we've also been taking walks along the canal ...

This dirt road runs along the canal right at the entrance to our neighborhood. It's a popular walking trail, and at this time of year, you can often see mama ducks and their little broods. We were lucky enough to see such a sight ...

...saw momma duck and her babies in the canal on the way home from school. Had to get out of the car and check them out. So cute! #duckies

A video posted by JenB (@jenblackham) on May 5, 2015 at 3:16pm PDT

On this trip down the canal, we also saw a bush with a billion ladybugs on it!

Okay, maybe not a billion, but a LOT.

Another walk down the canal, and we saw FIVE different mommy ducks and their  babies. It seems like whenever we see the babies they are so small, just a few days old. It is amazing how quickly they can swim and even scramble up the steep bank of the canal.

We've enjoyed getting out and about a bit this month of May ...

Stepping Up

I'm a pedometer person. For the past few years I've worn a pedometer and recorded my daily steps. I set a new personal best, just topping a high from about a year ago. 10,000 steps is about five miles, so throughout my day, I got in just over 20 miles. I actually wear two pedometers (I wrote a little about them in my Gadgets post). My Omron (shown in the picture above) shows me my total steps, as well as my aerobic steps (steps taken continuously for 10 minutes or more). My new Fitbit gives me a daily chronological graph which is fun to follow - the image below was my day ... Got up and did 20 minutes on the elliptical (first spike) then got the kids of to school. Then some short bursts of steps (laundry, walking the little one to a neighbor's for a play date) then another 20 minutes on the elliptical. Then the walk to school (twenty minutes each way, with a small break in between as the kids enjoy the playground before we head back home). Make some lunch, get in another 20 minutes on the elliptical. Play with the kids, mow the lawn, a couple quick 10 minute elliptical sessions. #3 has a baseball game ... there's not a lot of parking, I always have to walk a quarter mile just to get from my car to the field (as I'm a walker ... I don't really mind). Then rather than just sitting and watching the game, I walk and watch. From the edge of left field to the edge of right field, back and forth ... the games last about 90 minutes ... I usually get in five miles. I was pretty much done for the day, got the kids to bed and was ready to head there myself when hubby got called away on an errand ... so, I went down and did 20 more minutes on the elliptical (just to go ahead and break my personal best record). Hubby gave my poor tootsies a foot rub ... thank you Gray!

Our "WONDERFUL" Walk

Let me start by saying I LOVE our neighborhood. Great neighbors, parks, library, sports and shopping all right close by...BUT... the elementary school ... there have been some frustrations, just ONE being getting the kids to and from school. The bus boundary is 1.5 miles. We live 1.35 miles away ... so NO bus. Now, if you know me at all, you know I'm a proponent of walking. I'm a pretty fast walker too, and it takes ME a good 20 minutes to make it to the school. The first half, through the neighborhood, is just fine. In fact, the kids wouldn't ever have to leave the sidewalk, but THEN ... you hit 7800 South ... the street couldn't get much busier ... across from a SuperWalmart and the huge Jordan Landing shopping complex, adjacent to Bangerter Highway (which we have to cross to get to the school), and now, there is constant construction too ... I do not LET my kids walk to school. Riding their bikes ... I have to say that scares me even more than walking! I have been lucky enough to arrange for a carpool, so I only have to drive one way, but with one child in kindergarten, I have an additional pickup every day. I do try to walk with my little ones safely in the stroller when weather permits. Here's just a glimpse of our "wonderful" walk ...

The canal ... I haven't heard of any kids falling into the canal, but this would be a constant stress for me if my kids were walking every day. It's completely open, easy access. In fact, taking the dirt canal road does nip some distance off the walk. But we take the longer, smoother path on the sidewalk through the neighborhood.

After the canal, you get to pass the horses. In addition to the LOVERLY smell, the fence has been broken down like this for a couple of years ... the inner fence is an electric fence ... I can just imagine the kids daring each other to try touching it ...Then there is this nice stretch of sidewalk. It bumps us silly .... can you say shaken baby syndrome? But I don't know how they will ever repair it, because if they tore it out to replace it, there would be absolutely NO place for pedestrians during construction. This is right before one of the several streets and driveways we must cross going down 7800... there has never been a crossing guard posted anywhere along the way (probably because so few kids end up walking ... like I said, I don't LET my kids walk).

The recent (and seemingly never ending) construction has pushed traffic RIGHT NEXT to the sidewalk. If I reached my arm out, I would touch the cars and trucks passing by. I don't know which is more terrifying, having the cars rush by coming from behind, or seeing them come head on! We get to experience both, on the way to and then from school. Often traffic is so backed up that the cars are pretty much at a standstill, but at other times, when traffic is flowing, the cars rush by so quickly the wind almost knocks us over. The sidewalk is decent size, but when you come across a group of people, or a lady with a double stroller (that would be me) there just isn't enough sidewalk to share, so you often end up stuck or struggling to pass without stepping out into the street.Right at the intersection of 7800 South and Bangerter Highway, we are hit by another scent ... sewer ... (suddenly the horse smell doesn't seem so bad). We always try to get by this grate as quickly as possible, holding our noses and our breath.

And then, there's the overpass. Always good to get a little INCLINE in your walk. Up, up, up, up, watch out for the graffiti, litter, broken glass and pigeon poop ... the wind on the walkway can also almost knock you over as well. Then down, down, down the overpass (hanging on to the stroller so we don't go too fast and can't make the turns) and ... we're at the school. Collect the kindergartner and ... back we go ... I can feel the additional 40+ pounds of an extra child as we go up, up, up the incline ...

Now, just so you don't think I'm an utterly negative person, there are some good points as well. Once you are back in the neighborhood, the walk is very pleasant. I LOVE our winding neighborhood. I DO stop and smell the flowers (literally!). The hanging basket (above) makes me smile every time I walk by it.

I also ADORE the spring blossoms on this path ... with the pink petals falling, they look so pretty blanketing the ground. A close up of the blossoms below ... I love when the smell just hits you as you walk by ...

And of course, I have the CUTEST kids! They happily talk and point things out as we walk. "There's a bird, that flower is yellow, I saw a bug" ... they love to see NUMBERS and call them out (and as there are addresses on the houses and mailboxes ... this is pretty easy to do). Of course they have to have their "treat" bag filled with goodies to munch on, and a blanket if it gets cold, and sunglasses if the day is too bright. Another funny thing they do is reach out and run their fingers along the fences. I have to keep them just the right distance, so that they can touch, but so I don't end up smashing them!

Home again home again jiggitty jig ... almost three miles on the pedometer ...until tomorrow ...