Shoulda brought a camera

This past Saturday my girls and I visited my mom and spent the day with her. She decided that it would be fun to go to Minneopa Falls (nearby natural waterfall). She packed a picnic lunch for us, and we set off.

It was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining, there was nary a cloud in the sky, and it was 80°. As we entered the state park (the falls are in within the park) we came upon an area of wildflowers, and among the flowers were hundreds of Monarch butterflies. What a breathtaking site! They were flying all around the flowers, and often we would see 4 or 5 of them clustered together on the purple blazingstar. It was one of those moments where you tell yourself, “I wish I had a camera.” Did I have one? Nope! But I always have along a tiny camera phone.

We walked to the creek that flows above the falls, and, thanks to a month of literally no rain, it was very shallow. The girls were able to play in the water.

We took the trail down to the falls area, and my mom and Paige and Emma explored the territory around the water. Paige found many acorns, and Emma found a crayfish claw. The falls are so beautiful. My camera phone can’t do them justice so I didn’t even bother. ☺

After walking some of the trails we had our picnic lunch. Then we visited the nature center, and we finished our time at the park by watching the butterflies. The girls collected some flowers, and Paige found a dead butterfly.☺ That reminds me: does anyone know if it’s illegal to pick Minnesota wildflowers? We were unsure.

All and all a great day.