A Walk in the Park

The weather has been so gorgeous lately...well, not today obviously (though I'd take cool and rainy over 90+ degrees and 100% humidity anyday!).  Late July in Cincinnati is usually stiflingly humid and melt-your-skin-off hot; where venturing outdoors usually results in a hot, sticky mess.  But lately the weather has barely gone over 80 degrees and the air has been crisp and pleasant, not thick and steamy like usual.  Last Thursday was one of those days...sunny, blue skies and warm, but not too warm.  So, on my way home from work I picked up some Indian food and Antoine and I (and Cheese) headed over to French Park for a picnic and a walk.

Antoine and I enjoyed our Indian food (from Deep India, our favorite!) while Cheese hoped we'd share...and then complained when we didn't!

After our picnic we decided to check out one of the nearby trails.  Although we've lived in the area for almost 4 years now, French Park is still pretty new to us.  We've only been a couple times and this was our first time on any of its trails, which I gotta say are pretty great!

And boy, oh boy, did Cheese have a great time!  He loved playing in the stream and drinking it's cool water.

So handsome!

While I was snapping some photos of some flowers, because that's what I do, this butterfly was nice enough to stop by and stick around for a bit so I could take his picture.

Well, it's official, I've definitely fallen in love with French Park!  And I can't wait to take Cheese back for another romp in the woods.  Have you ever been to French Park?  What's your favorite Cincinnati area park?  French Park is definitely the most convenient one for us, but there are so many we want to check out but haven't yet.

*In case you missed them, here's some 35mm photos I took at French Park in late April.

Grazing

Here's the last of my photos from Amish Country.  I know I'm a little behind, but oh well, that's how it goes sometimes.  Anyway, the day of our departure from Amish Country we woke up to find three horses grazing in the pasture behind our B&B, so we naturally went down and lured them to the fence with grass so we could pet them.

I had a horse growing up, but Antoine's never really been this close to a horse so it was his first time feeding one...making it all the more fun for us!

Stealth-like Cheese

I couldn't resist sharing this, it's just too cute/awesome!  The other night we took Cheese to the with us to French park for a picnic and a walk.  I made this gif from some photos I took of Cheese catching his treat, a carrot.  It's one of his favorite treats and we always try to bring some with us when we go to the park for a picnic so he doesn't feel left out!

Here's a still, just for the fun of it!

After the Rain

While we were in Amish Country on Saturday it rained on and off all day.  One minute it would be crystal clear and sunny, the next the skies would open up.  And then , it would magically be sunny again.  Now don't get me wrong, sporadic weather (when it involves a little sun) is always better than nonstop rain/storms.  Plus, it makes for really pretty pictures of flowers with little raindrops on them...and we all know how I feel about flowers!

Unfortunately the raindrops quickly evaporated, but, as you know, I don't need raindrops to find flowers completely mesmerizing!

After our trip to Heini's the sun was shining and the temperature immediately perked up.  It was gorgeous, and I wasn't the only one who noticed because there were bumble bees and butterflies everywhere taking advantage of sun and the array of pretty flowers.  That's the other great thing about Amish Country, in the summer it's so very green and there are flowers all over the place! 

These lilies are actually from my parents yard.  They have all kinds of beautiful lilies surrounding there house, huge beds of them.  I love it!

Happy Friday everyone!  Any good plans in the works this weekend?  I'm planning on laying low and catching up on my crocheting.  Have a great weekend!