Nature In Your Own Backyard

Sometimes the best exploration happens right in your own backyard. Lady Hiva has been walking with a few friends in a park nearby in the Glen Carlyn neighborhood. She took the kids the other day and they loved it so much that they wanted to go back with me. 

I am glad they did. It is a nature reserve area that is tucked in behind all of the houses and connects a few of the large trails that run through NOVA. There is a small nature center that works on education of local animals and flora. 

It was fun to see that they had snakes and turtles and bugs inside the center. But even better to see those same animals as we walked around the trails outside! The tadpoles were HUGE!! 

These two were unbothered by the snakes. They were careful where they walked, but they could stand and throw rocks into the creek all day! It was only a matter of time before one of them ended up in the water. It usually starts with "I just want to cross the rocks." Then before you know it they are in all the way and going swimming! haha