Appreciating God's Creation

     Today we went to a local state park attempting to find something in nature that interested my kiddos enough to study.  I think more than anything they just wanted to play and explore on their own.  

     What we decided would be a fun study for all of us is flowers of any type, whether in a garden or growing wild.  What ended up being the most fun was searching for the flowers.  Then we'd take snapshots of them and try to see if we could identify them.  So here's what we saw and our stabs at identification.

We think this is a Potato Dandelion (wildflower), a member of the Aster family, but if anyone else knows exactly, please feel free to share.

We are pretty sure these are Wild Blue Phlox (they also grow wild), a member of the Phlox family.  But again, I'm new at this.

   

Rae-Rae is holding a Common Dandelion.

I'm not positive but I think this is Common Fleabane (wildflowers), also a member of the Aster family.

I couldn't find anything that looked enough like these wildflowers to even guess.  Yet they are still beautiful. 

Periwinkle (or Vinca)

This is another annual, like the Periwinkle above, but I don't know what it is.  It was a beautiful, vibrant red.

     I was amazed myself at how many wildflowers we caught a glimpse of when I've never paid much attention to them before.  I guess it goes to show me that we can always see beauty amongst the "weeds"  when we're looking for it which is especially true of everyday life.  Even my 8-yr. old daughter got that from today's nature walk.  As we were driving out of the park, she said, "Thank you Lord for the beautiful flowers!"  Amen to that!

I hope you are also catching glimpses of God's little kisses today!