State Park Sunday

This afternoon after church we drove a little over an hour to a state park that we wanted to check out. We loved it! It's gorgeous and only about a half hour from where my brother and parents live. We're already making summer plans that include overnight hikes with my brother and his wife while my parents babysit all 4 grandkids (none of them know about these plans, yet, though...) We did a fairly easy 2.6 mile loop. Ethan did great and didn't start begging us to carry him until just about the end. We hiked down a steep embankment (there were stairs) to Raven Rock, an enormous rock that stands along the river bank.

Ethan loved looking for spiders and their webs, bees and beehives, beetles, ants, and various other insects. He loves them and wanted to squish all of them. It's a very complicated relationship. We had a long philosophical discussion about the pros and cons of killing insects while enjoying the beauty of nature. It went something like this:

"Mom, look, I found an ant! Can I stomp it?"

"Ethan, we only kill bugs when they're in the house. We don't squish bugs in the forest."

"But, mom, I'm a good bug squisher!"

"I know. Leave the bugs in the forest alive. Keep walking."

"But, mom, I want to squish it!"

"You can't squish it when it's outside. Keep walking."

"But, mom, why??"

"Because. Keep walking!"

I am aware I used a classic mom cop-out response. The truth is, if I let him do it to even once, we would still be in the forest. Is a desire to kill insects an early sign of antisocial behavior? Please say no.

Along the way back we stopped at an overlook with a great view of the Cape Fear river and the flood plains beyond. It was a gorgeous, fun day and the predicted thunderstorms never appeared, thankfully. 

A couple with their 2 large, mean-looking dogs were hanging out at the overlook. One of the dogs was muzzled, so I asked the owner if it was because he barked. He replied, "He bites." As we were leaving, Ethan pointed at the dog that was muzzled and asked, "Is he eaty?" I kept asking him what he meant and he kept saying, "You know, eaty." Finally he said, "Like the man said the dog who's eaty." At this point Jason realized that Ethan had equated "biting" with "eating" and then made up his own adjective. It must be kind of scary to think a dog your height was willing to eat you. Sometimes I'm so fascinated by how Ethan's little mind works. I have nothing to say about this picture except that I really, really love this little guy.