The Wetlands

This last weekend, I took my family out to The Wetlands. It's a Clark County park, here in Las Vegas. The Wetlands used to be a place where.......let's just say, "questionable" things went on there. Any type of "questionable" thing you could think of. But, the County has dropped a ton of money into it, cleaned it up, and really made a beautiful, large, park for the residents to explore, for free!! I cannot believe more people don't know about this place!

Allan was home for the weekend, during his 6 weeks of hell, as I call them. He's gone almost every day of the week, but home on the weekends during this time. So, during this time, we are trying to relax, and spend as much quality time together as a family. I had suggested going out there, and having an adventure, with the kids, and he was on board! Plus, I have been wanting to do family pictures out there, so this was a good way for me to explore too. HA! We packed a lunch for each kid (which we left at home. Nice.) and Allan had said we would get "real food" on the way out there. We all got "real food" on the way out. HA! Thanks Sonic!

When we got there, went into the Visitors Center, and found that they had made a nice hands on, educational experience in there, resembling the Springs Preserve. The kids had a blast in there! They had an area where the kids could climb on a bunch of oversized animals. There were puzzles they could do, where they had to match up the picture of the animal with the sound, or eggs, or fur. The kids really loved exploring and learning there!

Luke finding us on the map

Taylor looking at different skins and feathers

This picture of Sarah just makes me laugh. She loved sitting in that nest. HA!

Finally it was time to go! I was so excited! I just wanted to have a little adventure, getting lost with my kids (safely lost, HA!) and exploring! I have felt more adventurous, and wanted to go exploring with them. They really wanted to be home playing video games, however. Darn you Mindcraft!! But, off they went anyways, us dragging them all of the way. Sarah finally got it together, and was really having fun. Taylor and Luke, they really wanted video games. This might be the one time Sarah's attitude didn't rub off on the boys. And Elliott, he wanted to just be out of his stroller, but he didn't want to walk. You just can't please anyone. HAHA!

It's actually a pretty huge park, or nature preserve. The water all comes from the water treatment plant, I think. I'm not really sure, to be honest. However, it's right next to it, so I would assume it does. But in all of the little streams running everywhere though the park, there are tiny fish, frogs, large fish, crawfish, ducks.....Allan said he saw a Hawk, a Heron, and a ton of Pheasants, a few road runners, rabbits, and cranes. It was really neat to watch the kids identify the animals, based on what they just learned a few minutes earlier!

Ever since the first time Terrell (a great photog friend) took me there, I've wanted to do family pictures there for someone. I just love all of the clearings, and little groves off of the paths. I love all of the little hidden gem photo spots all over this beautiful green park. Best of all, there are hardly ever any other photogs out there, and it's not crowded, so even better! They also have a ton of bridges out there, and I have a huge love of bridges, so that's great for me. HA!

I love how the sun shows all of the amazing colors in this canopy that is growing over a path. These places are everywhere around there!

This was a spot just off of a pathway, after we pushed our way through some bushes. It reminds me of that movie Willow, when the baby is floating down the river in the beginning. HAHA!

Beautiful fall colors

After a while, the kids were starting to get tired, and were now afraid we were actually lost. They kept asking me if I was lost! HAHAHA! I don't know why. I'm not lost very often! They just couldn't relax and explore. They are their father in some ways. Sometimes they just want to get through the moment, and get to the next thing, instead of just being present, and enjoying that moment, and making it last. I am so proud to say that Allan has improved so much with this. He is aware of this mentality that he has, and has really been making an effort to take a breath, and stop rushing. I love it!

Rest time, and water break! On a bridge of course, over some beautiful water.

Racing. I love it!

This kid can make a sword out of anything. I love his imagination! Plus, I just love this shot. HA!

I love that there are so many groves you can explore, and almost every one is met with a small stream running through it. It's always so magical, and such an adventure, discovering what the grove you just walked into looks like. Every one is different! 

I talked Sarah into going in by herself, by telling her that it looked like Pixie Hollow, with all of the overgrowth, and the pond sitting right there. She LOVED that!

Luke decided that if Sarah could do it, he might be slightly braver. Sarah was loving being in her "own Pixie Hollow". Fun imaginations

There are a ton of ponds, almost around every corner you turn. And in every pond, or stream, you can see a ton of different kinds of fish! The kids had fun running over to the water, and seeing what kinds of fish were going to be there!

Sarah was so scared I was going to drop my camera in the water to get this. She kept saying, "careful mom. Careful mom!" HA!

I just learned that that is not a duck swimming in that shot. That is a Coot. HA! I still love this shot. The colors here are amazing.

Taylor checking out the giant fish here. 

So 2 1/2 later, we finally decided we were done. I was disappointed because I didn't get to see my FAVORITE bridge, with the huge waterfall that the kids would've loved, but it was just too far for their little legs anymore. There was still SO much of that park that we didn't get to explore. It'll be fun the next time! We had decided to drive out to Lake Las Vegas, for some ice cream and a change of scenery. (That's a later blog post)

I am excited to take my kids back here for the spring, when the colors have changed, there are flowers, and the tadpoles are turning. I think it is a really fun thing to do here, especially during the cooler times of the year. We had a blast! One of our best days spent as a family, spending very little money, and a whole lot of time!