An unexpected surprise....

Today started out with dark clouds, high humidity, and thunderstorms were predicted, so I decided no splash pad today while Tom was in chemo. I thought we'd go instead to "Old Mcdonalds' Farm"--Mae's name for McDonalds--so she could run around in the play area. But as we drove to the Outpatient building the clouds were getting lighter. By the time we arrived, the sun had come out, so we dropped Tom off and were headed out of the parking lot when I saw a sign that said "Emerald Preserve" with a trail, so I parked the car and Mae and I went for a walk. What a treasure! It apparently opened in 2015 and has walking trails, is a wildlife sanctuary and has restored wetlands. We saw lily pads and ducks, lots of birds, bees and butterflies and such a profusion of wildflowers--every place we looked was covered in tall prairie plants. To use Mae's words: "Grandma, this is AMAZING"!! I only took a few shots, as I wanted to have my attention on Mae....she loved touching the flowers, and she was constantly asking "what's that, grandma, what's that"? After about 40 minutes the black clouds began to gather as the sun disappeared, so we headed back toward the car, my hands full of all her treasures: leaves she'd picked up off the ground, a couple of stones, twigs, a pinecone, and a flower she'd found laying in the middle of the path. SO much better than "Old McDonalds' Farm"! :))
Thanks Anni/BikerBear for hosting FlowerFriday.