This week we have been enjoying the slow movement of summer. There is no need to rush in the morning. Throughout the day we can do what we want to do. We've gone to the pool. We've invited friends over for extended play dates. Yesterday the girls asked to go to Long Branch Nature Center.
As I have documented throughout this blog, we love our area nature centers. They offer entertaining and informative programs for every age group. We've enjoyed the family campfires they host. We've attended numerous birthday parties at the nature centers. Often we just spend rainy afternoon in the fun playroom at the nature center closest to us. Yesterday, the girls took advantage of the break in the heat and spent most of their times on the outside trails. That isn't entirely accurate. They spent most of their time in the stream that runs along the trails at the nature center.
The true adventure started as they attempted to walk over the large rocks near the stream. Soon they found walking in the shallow water was not too bad. Anne lost her footing and fell right into the shallow water. I thought her wet shirt and skirt would send her into hysterics wanting to go home; but, no, that was all part of the fun game apparently. Soon Clare also tripped and found herself soaked. No complaints. Everyone wanted to stay and play.
The girls soon made it over to a patch of dirt and small rocks. They stood on this little island of sorts and attempted to skip rocks on the water. In our summer adventure notebooks (I'll have to do a post on these notebooks at some point), I have included activities from Keri Smith's book How to Be an Explorer of the World. One activity is to find an item on a walk and create a collection around that item. Meg and Clare embraced that activity at this point and began collecting what they called sea glass hidden amidst all the rocks. Meg has plans to use her rocks in a fish tank she hopes to get soon to hold a beta fish.
As I have documented throughout this blog, we love our area nature centers. They offer entertaining and informative programs for every age group. We've enjoyed the family campfires they host. We've attended numerous birthday parties at the nature centers. Often we just spend rainy afternoon in the fun playroom at the nature center closest to us. Yesterday, the girls took advantage of the break in the heat and spent most of their times on the outside trails. That isn't entirely accurate. They spent most of their time in the stream that runs along the trails at the nature center.
The true adventure started as they attempted to walk over the large rocks near the stream. Soon they found walking in the shallow water was not too bad. Anne lost her footing and fell right into the shallow water. I thought her wet shirt and skirt would send her into hysterics wanting to go home; but, no, that was all part of the fun game apparently. Soon Clare also tripped and found herself soaked. No complaints. Everyone wanted to stay and play.
The girls soon made it over to a patch of dirt and small rocks. They stood on this little island of sorts and attempted to skip rocks on the water. In our summer adventure notebooks (I'll have to do a post on these notebooks at some point), I have included activities from Keri Smith's book How to Be an Explorer of the World. One activity is to find an item on a walk and create a collection around that item. Meg and Clare embraced that activity at this point and began collecting what they called sea glass hidden amidst all the rocks. Meg has plans to use her rocks in a fish tank she hopes to get soon to hold a beta fish.
Though our adventures at the nature center eventually had to come to an end, the girls' exploration of nature did not. At dusk they ran outside to join their neighborhood friends in hunting fireflies. I watched from our front step as the girls caught numerous of fireflies in their hands and then let them go. The goal appeared to be to name each firefly before it escaped. Names include Leonardo, Mia, and Flippy (for the firefly who tended to flip over on his back). The girls would periodically bring a firefly over to me to hold and I enjoyed watching each one open its wings or light up unexpectedly. I remembered running through my grandparents' front yard as a child catching fireflies in jars as my mother and grandmother sat on the big front porch watching us.
The girls lingered outside after dark, hoping to spot the bats and the fox they had seen the night before. Three-year-old Anne desperately wanted to see the fox, but she kept saying to me nervously, "I'm going to stick close to you in case the fox comes." She decided to name the fox Mr. Tod in honor of the Beatrix Potter villain.
Such a wonderful summer evening. It was so very simple, but fully of memories.
The girls lingered outside after dark, hoping to spot the bats and the fox they had seen the night before. Three-year-old Anne desperately wanted to see the fox, but she kept saying to me nervously, "I'm going to stick close to you in case the fox comes." She decided to name the fox Mr. Tod in honor of the Beatrix Potter villain.
Such a wonderful summer evening. It was so very simple, but fully of memories.
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