Chapter 64- Hawthorn Glen

Hawthorn Glen was calling our name again.  We packed up sandwiches (instead of their normal Jif peanut butter and Smucker’s jam, I substituted homemade almond butter and purple carrot/blueberry puree.  They were not fooled) and headed out to Hawthorn Glen.  Unfortunately, construction of the parking lot is still underway, so we parked on State Street and made the walk to the entrance.  The good thing about it, is that it forced us to walk on the trails, which we’ve never done much before.

And MAN are those trails gorgeous!  Maybe it was my new prescription sunglasses (how was I living without these before?!), but the beauty of the green was striking.  Chipmunks were scampering beneath our feet, birds were singing above us, and the leaves provided some nice shade.

We headed to the playground and waited for some friends to arrive.

And yes he has a big black eye.  Ask his twin how he got it.

And once our friends joined, the fun continued.  Little A thought she was a big kid and stood on the tire swing.

Our buddy Big O took care of keeping the swing going while his mom and I sat on the blanket to chat.

And this one made some serious gains on learning to crawl!

A deer was spotted and we all ran to the field to view it…

And then, the hill.  We spent the next half hour rolling down and running up the hill.

My friend Margo and I joined in the fun!  When was the last time you rolled down a hill?  We asked each other that question and decided that was the day to end our hiatus from such an enjoyable thing.   And it’s amazing how dizzy we were after the first turn.

After the hill, we took a short walk through the woods and found lots of bugs to investigate.

Little T wasn’t a fan of holding the bugs, but I was able to snap an unprompted shot at it.  Afterwards, she said in a sort of flustered way that she didn’t like it.  And I told her that’s what being brave feels like.  Way to go Little T.

After bugs and running along paths, we headed back to our cars (who am I kidding?  MINIVANS.  There, I said it.) and big kids got to help little kids into their carseats.

As I’ve said before, I’m a huge fan of this park.  It’s got trails, a giant field, two play structures, a nature center, and no swings (except for the one tire swing).  If we’re around swings, I’m stuck pushing one kid, while trying to keep track of the others.  Or other random parents end up pushing my kid on the swing because I’m busy chasing after any other number of children.

So Hawthorn Glen has my vote for that and many other reasons.

Hope the summer’s treating you all well!  Are there any other spots in Milwaukee we should check out?

A. Storm