a walk in our favorite park

I think I can safely say this is the golden time to be living in Arizona. The heat has subsided, and being outdoors among the palm trees and mild weather is, for me, ideal. It's just chilly enough to throw on a thick cardigan in the morning, and then peel down to our t-shirts for the afternoon. We haven't turned on our air conditioning for a few weeks, and we love to throw open all the windows and let the fresh air in.

Our days are full of sunshine and about two trips a day to the park. The draw of being outside these days is not lost on Claire. I should count how many times per day she says, "S'outside? S'outside?" In fact, she basically only asks for three things: eat, pass (pacifier), and s'outside.

I try to oblige her, because I love being outside too, and because I still can't get over the fact that I'm getting a sandal tan in the end of November. We love hopping in the car and driving to discover a new park, or frequent an old favorite park, a few times a week.

These pictures are from our recent discovery of Kiwanis Park near our house. There's a lake, a playground (with that cool soft spongy ground!) and there are hordes of very assertive ducks. What more could you want?

 We walked around Kiwanis for more than an hour that afternoon, until the sun went down and we had to come home. It was the best break from school and work.

Can you get over this gorgeous succulent? (Thanks to one of my Instagram readers for correctly identifying this as an artichoke agave!) It almost looks like a painting.

 ^^Sometimes Sam and I briefly entertain the idea of living far away from everyone else in the country. But I don't think we could do it. We love living near people! And Target. We love living near Target. ;) And we absolutely love living near lots of parks and hiking trails and beautiful natural monuments.

This is where the Trust for Public Lands comes in. I can't believe all the hard work this organization does to keep our lands protected and accessible to the public. Parks and natural monuments are too precious to loose. Not to get all Ann Perkins on you, but I think it's important to stand up for the parks and public spaces you love if you want to preserve the nature near you.

Click here to create a postcard for the #OurLand movement, and to watch inspiring video clips. I made my postcard this morning!

And now I'm taking the rest of the week off to enjoy some time with my family! Wishing you the very happiest of Thanksgiving weeks, and I can't wait to share exciting content with you next week.

P.S. This giveaway for Freshly Picked moccasins ends tonight!
P.P.S. I only have two Christmas mini-session openings left for my Utah readers. Details here!

Thank you to the Trust for Public Land for sponsoring today's post. And thank you to my readers for always being so generous in reading and supporting the brands that support my family.