Cleaning Up & Springs Preserve

What a day! I spent the morning straightening up a few odds and ends around the house. I even got to clean out the bathroom cabinets thanks to Lincoln hanging out with his Aunt Lorina and Christina this morning! That's a job I am pretty sure he would not have willingly let me do alone if he had been here! He loves to open those drawers!!
But no worries I got to do something fun too. Rachel and I took the kids to the Springs Preserve. This was our first trip to the preserve, so we were not really sure what to expect. Because money is tight for everyone and we brought along some extras, we did not actually pay to enter the main buildings. Instead we took advantage of the free areas. And in case you were wondering just how many kids we had with us for this little adventure- there were 9!!
They have a large playground type area for the kids with rocks to climb on and a train to ride. The train does not actually go anywhere, but that did not seem to matter to Lincoln. He had a ton of fun steering the train even though it was not moving! He even got to see what it might be like to be a turtle!! And there was a giant rattlesnake that would hiss and rattle every so often, which was very exciting to Lincoln. So much so, that he would join in with the hissing!
After letting the kids play for a while we walked through a small part of the gardens. They are pretty nice and they identify the plants for you so you don't have to wonder what the plants are. We did not get out to the actual trail area, so maybe we will get to that area next time.
On the way home we stopped at 7-11 and bought the kids some slurpee's. There is nothing better than that on a hot day! And if you have not tried the new Mutant Berry I highly suggest it! It's yummy!!