Chicago's got a waterfall! . . . sort of

So someone at work told me about this really cool Forest Preserve pretty close to our house that's got some pretty neat trails, so I went to check it out this weekend and jogged around it. Turned out it was so cool, I took Brooklyn and Naomi to it the next day!

I had never seen anything like these forest preserves before moving out to Chicago, but they're pretty cool places. Dupage County (where we live) has a whole bunch of them spread out all over the place, mostly just big plots of land where home developers aren't allowed to touch. They're anything but "pristine and untouched" plots of nature, but I suppose I am living in one of America's largest Metropolis areas, so I'll take what I can get.

Anyway, on a map of the park, there was this huge star next to a big circle that was labled "Waterfall Glen". Apparently these falls are a pretty big deal. I found out that it's a man-made waterfall, and was built by the CCC back in the 1930's. (this is the same organization that built the Lake Bonneville trail that runs along the foothills of the mountains in Utah, of which I have frequented many times). The falls are a big enough deal that this entire park is named after them! So Naomi, Brooklyn and I took a Sunday afternoon walk and went to see them.

Coming from the Mountains of Utah, this waterfall MAY look tiny and of little consequence, but after being here for 3 months, we were simply happy to get even this much of "nature" into our system . . . even if it is man-made.

Brooklyn's favorite thing to do on walks: gather sticks. She actually carried these all the way to the car, all the way home, and even halfway to our apartment, at which point they were discarded to make room in her hand for some sweet looking rocks. Seriously...you should have seen those rocks!

Ah yes, we practice this face in the mirror. This was after we were both totally soaked!

Semi-peacefull environment!

The only reason I'm holding Brooklyn's hand is because she kept wanting to dive face-first into the water. She succeeded at this several times before Dad wised up and kept a leash on her! Oh, and this girl is rediculously good at making friends with strangers.

-sniff- I'm so proud of that girl, I couldn't keep her out of the water!

She kept picking up rocks and throwing them back in the water. It was actually pretty fun.

Take a look at Naomi's good lookin' haircut! OOhwee, she's hot stuff!

Before the secret got out and it got so crowded! It was an AWESOME Sunday afternoon.