Great Falls National Park

National Parks were free this week (still are until Sunday), so a woman in our homeschool group invited whoever wanted to meet her family at Great Falls National Park for some "hiking" and a picnic. The park is in Virgina on the Potomac River, northwest of Washington DC.


Buddy in a little kayak on display.


Baby X loved the "boat."


Princess Sparkley read all the warning signs about how dangerous the river is. Don't swim in it, don't wade in it. You have to be a certified, high level kayaker to kayak in it. On average seven people drown there each year.


This ranger brought out a snake. Princess Sparkley said she wanted to touch it, not hold it and I needed to take a picture. I convinced Buddy to touch it too. He told me, "I don't want a picture though." PS is in the greenish blue with the ponytail. That's her hand on the snake. Buddy is the blue hat.


That's Buddy's camouflage arm sneaking to pet the snake. I told him I was sorry I accidentally got a picture of him petting it when I was trying to get a picture of PS touching it. He said that was okay. Even Baby X and I touched the snake.*


Great Falls... treacherous part of the Potomac.


Pretty though.






There were LOTS of rocks to climb on.


Buddy and Baby X rock climbing.




The brown lump on the left hand side of the right construction barrier is a beaver.

We got our first tick ever here. Buddy came in to talk to us after we'd tucked him in last night and I saw a spot on his neck. Yep, a tick. Yuck. He was very brave and I stuck the tick on tape so he could see it.


*I was sure Baby X would be terrified of it like Buddy was at about three years old when he saw earthworms wiggling around on our patio in Kansas and ran in the house screaming "Snakes! SNAKES!"