A Walk in Nature - A Celebration

 

It's something I don't take for granted - the ability to go on a nature walk with my girls. To let them freely run ahead a bit or tarry behind to look at something. 

Until recently, Katie was what is affectionately called in the autism world, "a runner." She had no idea where her boundaries were and could not be trusted to come when called. It wasn't safe to take her on a walk without some form of containment - which meant a stroller or a wagon came with us every time. And, that severely restricts exploration. 

Also, until recently she simply didn't have the strength or stamina to handle that long of a walk. We were gone today for 55 minutes walking the trails - with much nature and many ups/downs and curves. She has worked so hard to overcome some of the difficulties of hypotonia and has built so much strength in her ankles and legs. 

It was such a great opportunity, today, for Meghan to be able to spot out all of the things she noticed and explain them to Katie. They explored and marveled at nature together. Freely. 

I look forward to much more of this in our future. There is a nature preservation area with paved trails that weaves through our neighborhood. We are excited to make a more regular habit of walking these trails and exploring what the girls now call "the little forest" and "our creek" and "our pond."

Meghan's observant eyes are well-trained to look for and spot beautiful things in nature. We saw ducks on the pond and bright red cardinals. We looked closely at a birds nest from last spring. They loved spotting all of the moss that is growing thanks to a wet winter. 

I look forward to seeing Katie learn from Meghan to watch and listen. 

I am so excited to be beginning to see the long-held hope of mine - that my girls would love exploring and getting to know God's beautiful creation - coming to fruition. The fact that this hope is becoming a reality is such a testament to so much hard work for these girls. 

I am so proud of them. I am so glad God gave them to me.