This morning, I woke up thinking it was the National Parks Free Day, and decided to go to Great Falls. At the last minute, I checked my computer to find out it is actually tomorrow. Bummer. That did not stop us from putting the kids in car, and finding a nearby fun area to visit. Hidden Pond was the choice for today, and as a bonus, it also has a great play area. So, we got the kids some breakfast, and headed over to the park and playground. It was great to run into Sarah Clark, a dear friend, who was there with her boys and her former neighbor. She introduced me to her and we chatted easily for a while, before the kids got restless. So, we walked over to the pond to see the turtles.
This is Virginia right now — lush, green, overgrown, muggy, buggy, and still beautiful. As we walked over to the pond, we almost collided with a huge group of kids who were taking part in a nature course at the Hidden Pond Nature Center. My kids were intrigued by the pond because it was truly hidden.
Yes, the lighter green flat expanse is the pond. Just covered in algae. I found out later that, apparently, the pump that keeps the pond clean was broken and had been for a while. Therefore, the algae was taking over at a rapid rate. The kids were disappointed a bit because it was difficult to spot any turtles.
We continued to walk over to the other observation deck, where a kind gentleman had acquired a stick and was scraping the algae off the surface. While he was doing this, so his grandson could see if any turtles were there, a large, old, snapping turtle glided beneath the surface.
It fulfilled all their turtle-spotting dreams and kept them engaged for a few minutes until the turtle decided he had had enough of prodding and no snacks, that he swam under the deck and disappeared. We carried on with our walk around the pond.
As we did this, we ran into our friends from the playground again. This time, all the kids banded together and wanted to explore a little. My kids held back a little not knowing if they could join, so I encouraged them to go mingle, and they had a fun time throwing rocks and sticks in the pond, and trying to spot any baby turtles around the edges. They told me they found some regular baby ninja turtles, and a couple of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Well, that sounded amazing! 😀 We bid adieu and walked back to our car, grateful for friends and a nature center close by to escape to this morning.
