We saw a bunch of red pine trees.
Which Monkey and I took a look at to see what they were. I pulled out my field guide, which I had remembered to bring today, and figured out what we were looking at. Short, squat pine cones. Double needles. Red pine.
There is a lot of grass, which when summer comes will be much less pleasant, as it is known to be home to ticks, and if the flowers ever get here, the bees will also like them. Spring is much easier for this Mama, who's still making the transition to outdoorsman. But for now, it was pleasant and beautiful, and I was pretty comfortable letting Monkey explore it a bit.
7 comments:
I really like the pitcures you come out with from your little excursions. They look like you two have lots of fun.
Thanks, Daddy! Your complements mean a lot to me! We have a lot of fun, and I'm starting to see some of the useful things that folks talk about from doing nature study with kids, even though he's just a little thing. Most of the pictures of Monkey are him doing what he does, though I must admit that the last picture, where he's playing in the grass, is a little posed. I asked him to stand by the grass. He decided what to do while he was there.
Sorta-posed or not.. it's still a very cute picture :)
How lucky Monkey is to have a Mama who loves to take him outside. Oh I feel guilty for not doing that enough for Andrew. I should probably make it a goal...
Thanks Kate!
Keeley, I don't always love to take him outside. Our bugs are starting to wake up, and they stress me out. But it helps that I've got something that's interesting to keep myself occupied while we're out. I've got a fanny pack with a tree guide & a wildflower guide. Just in case I should someday find one and want to look it up. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm looking in the right places for these flowers or WHAT? It's still pretty early spring here, though I do think I might be able to get away with working on my early veggies in the garden: lettuce and peas & whatnot. I don't THINK we should be getting any more snow.
Anyway, in addition to my little guides I've got a tiny nature book and a pencil. So I pick something that I am interested in, and I study that while he does his thing. Cuz he's a little guy still. (His nature book is a photo album and we pick a few pictures to go in it every so often.)
It's easier to be outside when you have something to do. Find something that's interesting, then let Andrew tag along. Check here for inspiration. She's got more than 50 challenges & is still making up new ones regularly. Something is bound to be interesting!
Plus, you don't have to stay long. We stay for usually less than an hour if I can keep him off the play equipment. I'm learning to choose parks with more wild space and less equipment, because it's just more fun for me that way, and I think it's more beneficial for him as well.
Well, I think a step in the right direction is to actually go outside. =D To that end we went to the park this afternoon. I figure if I can keep this up for several weeks in a row we'll branch out to more nature stuff... =D
Bugs! Bugs! Ew!
Thanks for the link.
Having a photo nature book is a good idea. I bet if I hand Andrew my digital camera and let him take pictures it'll capture his interest. =)
I am SO right there with you on the bugs! But it's easier when MY attention is absorbed on something that's interesting. That's the real reason why we're doing the nature stuff now: keeps my mind busy.
Mom used to tell me to go outside to play, and I'd always wonder what the heck I was supposed to do out there. There wasn't anywhere cozy to sit with my book! I continued to feel that way until I discovered bird watching. I tried to get pictures of the birds, which for a long time were just barely good enough to identify them with. No showing those blurry things off! But it's lead to an increasing interest in all sorts of things outside. And the more interesting it is, the easier it is to be outside.
Also, it's early spring still. There are hardly any bugs. But already that is beginning to change...
Yay you for going to the park!!
Post a Comment