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Adventuring

The big girls have been away at EFY and youth conference for 10 days. We sure missed them, but tried to fill the gaps they left behind with a few adventures. Andrew had some Cub Scout things to do involving hiking and visiting a wildlife refuge so we knocked those out in one adventurous afternoon. 

We went to the Iowa Raptor Project, which is at a nearby park. Injured birds are brought there where they are taken care of and then returned to the wild if possible. When we arrived, they were caring for an eagle and they let us watch them release her back into her cage. 
We have been to this park many times. We usually stop to measure our eagle wingspan.
The boys enjoyed throwing rocks from a bluff into the lake while I nervously imagined how I would rescue them if they fell.
After our visit to the birds, we drove around looking for a trail that might also lead to a beach so the kids could swim a little (they wore their swimsuits under their clothes just in case). We didn't find the right swimming trail, but we found a decent trail for a hike which featured a log that functioned as a bridge about 6 feet over a wimpy creek. 
My pictures of Gavin didn't turned out as he was strapped to me and I'm not great at selfies. He was a trooper and enjoyed our adventure as much as the big kids.

Here's one last picture of Sean on the trail. I made the boys wear backpacks with snacks, water, and first aid supplies so that we could count this as an official Scout hike. Raising boys is pretty fun. 

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