Umstead Park Hike

Sunday we went to Umstead State Park and hiked the trails with Isabel and Greta.  Isabel was so excited to be going on a "real" hike.  Here is a picture of Isabel and Rob posing in front of the small lake/big pond (can't decide) and some yellow goldenrod in the background...no wonder my allergies have been acting up!

We crossed a bridge and proceeded to go off-trail to explore a stream where we found little fish, 2 frogs,

a crawfish, and an unidentified baby snake which we kindly avoided.  Picture is of me holding the larger frog we found in the stream.  After exploring the stream, we went on to find a blue-tailed lizard on the bridge and a beautiful giant, irridescent beetle under a log.  It was bright bluish-purple...but it was too fast to catch on camera. 

A great time was had by all, including Greta despite this picture:

We didn't realize that you can also camp there!  Which might be ideal for our first-ever family camping trip!