Last weekend, we took the kids for a walk around Kilmory Loch.  It was cold but crisp and bright so a perfect day for a stroll.

How exciting is life for my kids that they spend whole minutes staring at a drain?

Then again, how exciting am I that I love to take photos of lichen?

Evan splashing in a stream:

Arlo in the backpack doing his best impression of Elvis’ lip curl:

Aidan doing his best … em … fish face:

More paddling:

Chris and Arlo:

Evan digging at mud with a stick …

… and successfully flicking it all over me:

I loved the dew-covered moss on this stick.  Because I am not quite normal:

Orin with our pet stick that he named ‘Peter the Magnificent’.  He’s not normal either:

Aidan with our pet stick:

Evan leaning against a really big tree:

Evan did not want to adopt a stick so he carried some lichen with him.  Nope, he’s not normal either:

I love this moss!

Arlo:

Chris and Arlo again:

Me.  I was actually there too:

Aidan refused to have his photo taken unless he was pulling a silly face …

… and Orin can always be relied upon to do something odd whenever the camera is pointed in his direction:

Evan brushing a tree trunk with his lichen.  Yup, still quite far from normal:

Sun coming through the trees above the ice-covered loch:

Orin:

Evan:

Aidan:

Orin found a piece of ice he liked because it was shaped like a mammoth tusk:

Chris and Orin on the side of the frozen loch:

Evan and his pet lichen:

Aidan and Evan:

The gang!  Would you believe this was the best group shot I managed to take?  They only stayed in a clump long enough for me to fire off two shots and the other one must have been truly deranged for this to be the best one:

Aidan:

Evan beside the stepping stones we had just crossed:

Arlo can sit!  He has not quite mastered balance fully enough to be considered independent but this is a big milestone: