I wasn’t feeling that well today, but that just made me think that getting out of the house would be even better for me. So Lea and I grabbed Mia and Willow and walked down to the lake. The lake isn’t far from our apartment, probably a few hundred yards at most. Willow rode her bike, Mia skated, and Lea and I walked. It was an overcast Fall type day, but was still nice.

In this photo Mia is getting a ride from Lea. Part of the walk back included her riding on my shoulders, as well. This is the downside to having a five year old who loves to ride her skates and run down to a lake–at some point she gets too tired to return. So Lea and I do our best to give her a break.

We had a heavy rain over the past two days, and it caused tons of snails to come out onto the sidewalks. Willow and Mia love nature and life, so they were worried about the snails getting stepped on. As a result, they organized Operation Save The Snails.

They went around and grabbed all the snails they could, tossing them into the grass and ground cover so that no one would step on them.

Here is Mia’s artist representation of her “poem day.” On the left is her telling her family a poem, represented by the notes. Mom, Dad, Zoe, and Willow are in the back listening to the poem.

But, alas, her family is talking and not listening! This made Mia angry and thus we have the drawing on the right–an angry Mia mad at her family for not listening.

This drawing was submitted to the family as evidence of their rude behavior a few minutes after the actual events unfolded.

Willow and Mia enjoy a final swim before school starts.