Getting Back to Nature

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We love living in a big city.  We also love to go for walks through the woods and our kids love to explore the outdoors.  When we lived in Maryland we enjoyed hiking in Pemberton Park.  It was a great place to visit during the different seasons to see how it changed.

Now that we live in Houston, the seasons are very different.  The Houston Arboretum is one of our favorite places to go on a nature hike in Houston.  It has five miles of trails (trails are sometimes blocked off, but current maps are available in the Visitor's Center).  We went on a hike a couple weeks ago and I was amazed at all of the undergrowth for this time of year.  The vines and ground plants were encroaching on the trails in many places and it made for a beautiful, green canopy.

We had a lot of fun exploring the trails, spotting turtles in one of the ponds, pretending to fish and playing on the playground.  They have a great Discovery Center with lots of hands-on learning opportunities, but with some school groups there, we had to skip it this time.  I am looking forward to taking the kids back in a few months to see how things have changed.

American Beautyberry



After talking about what was wrong with the hollowed out tree,
the kids pretended to paddle away.

A fun rope bridge in the playground area beside the Visitor Center

Enjoying the Arboretum's playground
Do you like to explore the outdoors?  Where do you like to hike?  Share your recommendations in the comments section below!


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