happy may!

Is it? Could it be? Spring? We had a weekend that felt like early spring. Not really like the first weekend in May, but I'll take sunshine and chilly but not completely freezing any day! The boys even had a few hours of shorts before the cold breeze convinced them pants were in order.

We had a weekend of being outside. State park and a flooded lake for scooping with nets and casting. Playing on the playground. Walking the boardwalk.


Watching wildlife. (I'll just stop right there, and skip past the swarms of flying insects, screaming children running to car sobbing, bugs in eyes, up nose, swallowed!!! ;)


We had a car ferry ride (no bugs!) and drive through small towns.



Lots of basketball in the alley. One on one, with dad, with neighbors, repeat, repeat, repeat.



Some more garden transplanting.


Nerf battles when they needed to come inside to warm up for a bit.


Fresh home made tortillas and lemon loaf.


Swings and climbing and walks.


Just how weekends should be. Happy May!

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exploring lakes & trails.

After days of rain, cold, wind and snow, we had a cool but drier day today. We immediately thought of visiting one of our favorite close-by state parks to play, explore and walk. We love finding new trails, but do visit local favorites often. It is so nice when spring arrives and the trails are open to us...and not knee deep in mud or ruts. Yay!


We go for walks in the woods as much as we can, and usually one boy or the other is carrying some sort of compass or GPS. They love to see direction changes, navigate, and plot their trail.


Some of our favorite spots (well, almost all of them) have not only walking trails, but a lake, stream or river with access to water. We aways end up exploring the rocks, beach and shore before heading into the woods or prairies.


While we do not yet have much foliage - everything is just now budding - we do have lots of small plants and flowers lining the trails to explore. In spring the boys love finding moss and seeing the interesting sporophytes.


We always find something interesting, even on familiar trails. Trees, insects, birds, leaves, moss, wild edibles, rocks, funky bark...never a dull moment.


Weekend hikes are even more special since we can all go together as a family - the boys always act as though they are taking Brice on a tour, especially if we have recently been on a trail without him.


So while it may have seemed like a pretty dark gray day for it, we really loved it. Fresh air, budding trees, busy birds, and a dry trail. Perfect!

April is Children & Nature Awareness month. Find an event, go for a hike, visit a park or just get out in your garden. There is always something to explore. If you feel like doing more, check out Children & Nature Network for events and activities, or visit a few bloggers who have challenges going on - Ordinary Life Magic Too and 5 Orange Potatoes both have all kinds of goodness happening to tie it all together!