Ellison Park

On Thursday I took the kids, and their friend Kelly, to Ellison Park. There we took a mile-and-a-half hike. We stopped a couple times for the kids to play, but it was so hot that we took the whole thing at a very leisurely pace.
The obligatory flower photos. I am too tired to look these up, so suffice it to say that they were pretty.













This picture doesn't do the contrast in colors justice. In reality the red was really red and the green very green. It's still a decent picture though.













As we crossed a bridge over Irondequoit Creek, we thought we say a snake in the water, so Sarah got a big stick to throw in to see if it would move...her mean old mother however, would not allow her to throw it. Instead, she decided to strike a pose for me while Erin and Kelly looked on.













Meanwhile, a monkey, er, Kyle, was climbing the tree. I pointed out to him that the tree was over the water and he doesn't like being in water, and that perhaps this was a bad idea, but I'm just the mother...what do I know? Oh, well...he didn't fall in (I would have laughed if he had...and taken picutres!).













The roots on this tree were primarily in the water, which I thought was quite neat.













More dragonflies. This one was very cooperative, and I love its coloring.













If you look closely, there are 2 dragonflies flying around just above the surface of the water almost in the center of the picture.













The branch sticking straight up on this tree struck me as quite odd. I'm not sure on the type of tree, but it has this great camouflage looking bark. This type of tree is all throughout the park. We really enjoyed looking at them, and the kids even enjoyed climbing in one.













I like these pretty pink flowers, but this bee looks like it must be the mother of all bumble bees! It is HUGE! The picture is a bit fuzzy, but you can get a good idea of the size of it anyway.













Here is a picture of the path that we took through the park. This park is much more "developed" than Black Creek Park. The trails and the shelters are all mixed in together, whereas at Black Creek, the shelters were in a central, more developed area of the park, while the trails were on the perimeter and the land around them was largely left alone.













One cool thing about Ellison Park is that there is a riding stable nearby and they have a trail specifically for horse back riding. This picture shows where the riding trail and one of the walking trails intersect. I like the stone wall.













One of the places we stopped had some inviting "climbing" trees. Kyle went up the tree, then Sarah joined him with a little help from me. Here's Sarah contemplating how to get back down...













Finally, Erin got a boost into the tree. She is my original monkey! Kelly opted not to climb this particular tree. The first step was a tough one so she decided watching from the ground was just as good.













Kyle climbed a bit higher in the tree and actually posed for me. I was so proud of him! For anyone who doesn't know, Kyle does not like to pose for pictures. If you happen to catch him in a photo that's okay, but he likes to make a game of avoiding the camera.













As we continued on our journey, we came to this great "trail" that led up a hill...er, mountain.


There was a wonderful bench at the bottom of the hill under a nice shade tree. I sent the kids exploring while I plopped down on the bench to enjoy the beautiful blue sky and puffy, white clouds. In the picture below, the kids are about 1/2 way up the hill.













Kyle took the camera and got a picture of me, way down at the bottom.













The sandy soil at the top was very soft, so the kids could draw in it, which they thought was pretty cool.













Kelly and Sarah sat in a bit of shade to rest after the long, tedious climb. The soil was so sandy that it made climbing difficult. Their feet kept sliding and of course Sarah decided to wear her Crocs instead of sneakers that I had requested she wear.













As the kids finished their exploration and descended upon my calm reverie, Kyle said it was a good thing I had waited, because the climb was difficult and I would have had a hard time. WRONG thing to say!!! I responded with something along the lines of "Oh, really?" and proceeded to run up the hill. Upon running back down (more challenging in my opinion, and perhaps a bit foolhardy) I reminded him that I am old (in his estimation), not dead, thank you very much!!! Somehow I don't think mid-thirties is all that old, but I guess when you are not quite 15, everyone over 25 is old.

Here is the picture I took from the top of the hill. You can see the bench I had been enjoying.













This one Kyle took from up above the "drawing" spot. Apparently there is a bench up there to enjoy the view. I opted not to climb up there as the soil turned almost totally to sand, and I am a baby about sand in my sneakers.













Sarah coming down the hill after I had run up and then down. She was far more cautious about her descent than I was.



















This is the view I was enjoying while lying on the bench at the bottom of the hill, before I was so rudely interrupted with an "old" comment.













This was the end of the photos on this journey. We spent the remaining 20 minutes or so thinking about ice cream and cold drinks. We had brought cold drinks along, but it was really hot and they were long gone by this point.

The kids sat outside and stuck their feet in a wading pool and ate ice cream bars once we got back to our house. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun, but next time we need a cooler day or somewhere with water to play in.