Nature Walk

We try to go on a nature walk at least once a week. Now, this is not to say we don't get outside or around nature more often than that, but for our nature walk, I like to do a little more than stroll around the yard.  Also, we make (or I make, and try to insure Anna does too) a conscience effort to observe nature closely. We usually go to a nearby lake that has a play ground and lots and lots of ducks. There are also quite a few Canadian geese. 
     

Today was very hot, which made me long for fall, but as a result of the heat, the lake was simply buzzing with dragonflies!  I even saw some I had never seen before, like a very small gold one. The one pictured has a white body, which makes it dazzling in the sunlight.

Samuel Loves the ducks. He does a sort of gurgling croak, that is suppose to be a quack, and then squats down and does the duck waddle.  It's hilarious! Most of the ducks are very tame; some times scarily so, and they will allow Samuel to get quite close, but never close enough to touch. They always manage to waddle one step ahead of him.

This is a pretty duck. There are so many different types of ducks at the lake, I wonder if they interbreed to make new kinds. Or can ducks do that? I tried to find out what some of them were using a bird guide, but couldn't identify anything other than a mallard.  So it makes me think...

Anna likes to get right at the water's edge and look for little fish or hopefully spot a turtle.
Abriel stays closer to me than Samuel. She actually likes to hold my hand!