Tag Archives: nature center

Mother’s Day!

me

Our second hike for Mother’s Day weekend was on Sunday right after church!

The Oxley Nature Center is such an amazing place to visit!

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The trails are wide(so not as many ticks on you) and easy.

walkingwithdad

I could watch them walk side by side all day.

flowlinetrail

I wanted to go through the Blackbird Marsh to the Observation tower to see if any snakes were out.

You can see a map on their site, here.

trailsin

bridge

Crossing Warren Bridge.

You turn left after the bridge to go through the marsh on the boardwalk.

boardwalk

snakearea

At the end of the boardwalk right before the observation tower is an overflow pipe.

We have seen dozens of snakes camped out there before after a hard rain, catching fish that come out.

There were none this time so we took the trail to the right of the boardwalk around the marsh(Blackbird Marsh Trail) to see if we could find any snakes hanging out.

pond

Jackpot!

We saw two!

snake

flowrs

waterlilly

 

warrenbridge

We went back across the bridge and headed to the Blue Heron Trail.

marshThere were a lot of turtles and geese!

I am definitely going to head this way again next time.

honeysuckle

Honeysuckle.

frog

This little guy was hiding under a leaf.

woodchuck

We saw this guy dash across the trail and thankfully my husband was super quick and got a picture of him!

We think it is a woodchuck?

What is your favorite local trail to see animals?

What did you do on Mother’s Day?

Lake Eufaula State Park ~Checotah, OK

LakeEufaulaA few weeks ago we were able to visit Lake Eufaula State Park.

We decided to take the Chinkapin Trail that is just across the road from the visitor center.

The trail runs pretty close to the shore of Lake Eufaula and was a nice hike.

chinkapintrailIt is an out and back and around 3 miles total.

We walked along the shore for a while though so we ended up getting more like 6 miles.

ninjasThese boys are getting too fast for me.

Especially when they are being Ninjas…

sign

throwMy boys love to hike along shore lines!

It is usually a very difficult hike since there are a lot of rocks and debris but they think it is a great adventure.

waterOnce my oldest pretended we were on the shores of Narnia the whole time.

log

climbing

climb

triumphTheir favorite thing is to make a hike more challenging.

I am worried about what my fitness level will need to be in a few years.

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walk

mapMy youngest found this rock and they were both convinced it would lead them to buried treasure.

My oldest was very sad that I would not lift the 2 ton rock he was sure the treasure was hidden under…

naturecenterThey have a nice small Nature Center at this park also.

objectsThe boys liked the table of things to touch.

look

workerThey also have a little Frogatorium!

greenfrogThey were a little low on frogs due to a sneaky snake that had found it’s way inside but the boys still really enjoyed it.

turtle

frogThis guy looks like one that camped out on my kitchen window last summer.

armidilloArmadillo!

play

merryThey do not have any long trails that are maintained and some of the park is a little worn down but it is still a nice place to stop.

They have a couple really easy, short trails so this would be a good place to take young children.