local flora and fauna

We went to a local park this week to collect some fresh pond water and a few live pond plants for the tadpole project. I realized once we were on the trail that it's been a surprisingly long time since we've been out to commune closely with nature. Kale, more than anyone else, has been focused on other things over the last few months and nature walking hasn't appealed to him over this last winter, so we don't go nearly as much as we used to. I've sure missed the woods!

stinging nettle

We identified a patch of stinging nettle and I pointed it out to the kids so they could become familiar with the leaf shape and how it grows, so that they are able to avoid an unwanted run-in. I was never shown it and then in my early 20s I found out about it the hard way (with painful stings up my entire forearm that lasted a day) while trail-hiking by myself one day. Plant identification at a young age is useful knowledge in more ways than one!

wild violets

Another objective to our trip was to collect about 2 cups of wild violet blossoms to make jelly. This is something Hillary was interested in doing with me. Once we got to the patch, we realized just how labor intensive and tedious it was to collect that many, so we just picked until we had enough to eat and garnish ice cream later that night.

one of many violet patches

taste-testing... Hillary says they are delicious just-picked

Carrying on down the trail, I flipped over a log hoping to find a Western-Redback and sure enough, there was one there. We are pretty crazy about amphibians in this family.

sending him back to his home after a short visit with us

The rest of the time was spent enjoying the flora all around us, Hillary and I snacking and pointing out flowers and ripples on the ponds...

The boys spent their time checking out the bike jumps that some other kids made in the woods long ago. Kale spent a lot of time just trying to get past one challenging jump on his mountain bike, wiping out, and then trying again.... He decided that his bike was the culprit, the jumps were more suited to a lighter, smaller BMX-style bike. This of course has been on his list of wants for quite some time and I'm sure one day we'll find the right deal second-hand.

It was so good for us all to get back to nature for a spell. We're all craving more time spent outdoors in warm weather, Kale and Sam are especially longing for beach time and ocean exploring once again...