Yesterday it was such a nice day that we decided we had to go hiking. We chose Mackworth Island because it had a short trail and we didn't have a lot of daylight left.

While on the trail, we discovered a couple of new things that we hadn't noticed during our hikes there last summer.

The kids enjoyed the crushed stone maze.

The swinging bench was fun too.

G. likes to stop at the pet cemetery so she can read the stone markers there. She's our animal-lover so we took a few minutes to make the stop.

Then we arrived at the fairy village and walked around to admire all the houses before we set out to make our own. And I warned L. that we would not be planning any elaborate houses since she's notorious for getting carried away with her construction plans.

We all really liked this one.

After about 20 minutes in the village, I told the girls it was time to head home. And true to form, L. balked. She said she wasn't "quite done" with her second fairy house. But since we didn't have any time to spare, I told her we'd come back again soon.

We're headed to NYC for the holiday weekend and I'm sure it will be an interesting urban adventure for us. I'll be back online next week.