Nerstrand State Park

One of the things Andy and I have been wanting to do more of is exploring state parks, or going on mini adventures.  Alex loves a good adventure and it is so fun to get out and see him explore.  He is a boy all about nature.  Not far from his daddy's heart.  Andy's original major in college was in the DNR field for Fisheries and Wildlife.  It is his passion.  

Going off of a tip from good family friends, the Olsen's, we headed to Nerstrand State Park on our way to my cousin's graduation party.

It was the beginning of June and a beautiful day to get out and explore.

We packed a picnic, but the boys (both of them) were not interested.  They wanted to go and explore from the second we got there.  They had a bit of string cheese and some pineapple and we were off!

We found a path that thought would fit us for the day.  It was 1.5 miles in length and boy, I think we picked the right one.

I couldn't believe how much Alex ran!  He was so excited to get going. Aiden hung out in the blue pack that we used to use with Alex and was pointing at everything stating, "oohhh".

"Mom, Look how big this leaf is!!"

It was right during nap time, and although he laid his little head down, he was not one to sleep.

Right as we were on the bigger stretch of our walk where it wasn't as much to look at Andy stated, "Alex, keep looking for some wildlife like-" And there popped out a deer!  A little baby fawn.  Alex was so excited and couldn't contain himself.  I am surprised it didn't run fast away.  I couldn't get a very good picture, but I couldn't leave out this very important part of our hike.

This tree had a bench built into it.  My adventurist climbed right up. 

This was by far the best part of our hike.  We walked across these cement blocks in the water and just a titch farther found the waterfall.

My pictures do not do this place justice.  We walked in the water and had a ball.  There was a photographer there taking pictures of wildlife and offered to take our picture.  Although not my favorite of me, a nice opportunity for a a family picture.

Little man was able to get out of his carrier and walk around.  He livened up a bit and loved splashing in the water.  

And then there were the stairs.  Alex was such a trooper all day and did such a great job of walking.  Andy ended up carrying him only for a bit before he walked again.  When we were walking and could see the car and swing-set, Alex says to me, "Mom, I don't want to play today, maybe next time".  He was tired.

So, we packed up the car and headed to the graduation party not too far away.  Surprisingly, the boys did not sleep on the way there.  They both inhaled their lunches when we did get there.  Alex seemed to find someone to go to for the sweets too.  They had a great day of adventure and it was only the beginning!