Capturing the Moments

The day we spent traipsing along the storybook trail was so filled with beauty and wonder that I simply had to share more. Magical moments were everywhere and I had one of the most joyous days in ages watching the children play and experience and explore.

One of my first favorite moments came at the start of the story trail. The girls had just collected their clipboards and were counting the steps through a tunnel hedge when Ruhi realized that she had seen the answer to another question back where they had begun. She took off to write it down and Anisa followed...

They returned moments later, breathless, and with more than one answer to record.

Ruhi got right into while Anisa struggled to locate the question.And then took a peek at what Ruhi was writing.Ever the helpful older sister Ruhi helped Anisa answer her question once she had finished her own.

I loved this so much that I took multiple photos...

and even zoomed in so that you could fully appreciate the charm of this moment. Mission accomplished. They walked back to join Bayan and I where we were waiting at the end of the hedge.
The end of the trail led us back to the mansion and we paused in it's shade to enjoy a picnic lunch on the lawn.Where the girls shared sandwiches, treatsand whispered conversations.After lunch the children strolled along the grounds (note Bayan's highly dignified manner), explored huge hedges and climbed fabulous trees whose branches dipped to the ground.Anisa treated us to an impromptu dance she made up just for the occasion. Ruhi organized running races down the sloping lawns

and Bayan demonstrated his special techniques for rolling down a hill. When they had tired of rolling and running and dancing and climbing they asked if they could revisit the trail. So we did. We walked back down meandering paths dotted with African wildlife and found ourselves beneath an enormous pine. I sat on a rustic bench and watched them play in perfect harmony for over two hours. Bayan set up shop and organized a restaurant complete with pine cone soup and all kinds of 'bush tucker'.
Ruhi was transformed into an elf and had tons of fun playing a woodland nymph.
While Anisa made no end of social calls on her stone phone.

As the day came to an end and we headed towards the car we paused to play on a great sailing ship and my three buccaneers had one final adventure on the high seas.Then, while cutting across a huge meadow to get to the parking lot, we made one more stop so that Ruhi could demonstrate the proper way to catapult rocks from this plant. Bayan was super impressed and plied her with pebbles so that she could continue to amaze us with her impressive skills. I am not sure the plant was quite so thrilled, but Bayan found it fascinating.