After School Program ||Castaway Preserve Park||

Fall in North East Florida may possibly be my favorite time of the year.  Most of the year we revel in hot sun scorched days and then complain for a few months when the mercury dips below 60 degree F. However, there is this amazing time of the year when it seldom rains and the cool wind blows the salty air.  

This time is my favorite time to explore the trails.  So instead of coming home after school today, we packed some snacks and found a preserve that we had never been to before.

We parked feet from the entrance of Castaway Preserve Park.  We have driven past this little preserve many times and decided to visit today.  The trail is beautifully maintained and switched between raised wooden deck over hardwood swamp forests to hard packed earth.  

The preserve was perfect for Judah (5) and Eisley (4) with tons of seeds, nuts, leaves, and sticks for them to examine and collect for their nature journals (to be completely honest our nature journal consists of a bag full of todays finds, but we will get there).  Nico (14 months) rode happily in the Ergo but did get a couple of mosquito bites on his little face.

It's days like today that make me want to do this everyday.  The weather was perfect, the wind made the trees sing, and everyone loved exploring.  The sun was setting as we made it to the canoe launch and the colors in the sky were spectacular.  These are the day I live for.