Picnic Nature Study

We had a chance to go to the river yesterday with our friends. We brought along a picnic and had a fun time exploring things.
The kids were very intent on a little sticky, egg case or seed pod...something. It looked pretty gross to me but the kids thought it was very cool. Mitchell sketched it and Avery wrote down as many facts as she could about it. While O got up close and personal with the magnifying lens to see if she could figure it out.

The river was beautiful....i love the clouds, all gray and dark!!!

i think J was loving the cracker. She had it all over her face as proof.

Is this face cute or what? E was telling me all about the boat that we were watching on the river. And he meant every word of it.

Success!!

Every day since Mitch went fishing for the first time he has asked to go again. well, yesterday Mitch got a surprise afternoon with Daddy. Chris felt like leaving early...so he met us at home and surprised Mitch with a fishing trip for the afternoon. The boy bounced and screamed! Just saying he was excited was a understatement.

This time the boys rented a row boat and headed out to the middle of the pond, got real worms to fish with this time and had a great afternoon. Chris said that as soon as the line hit the water they were biting....immediately. This shot above is the first fish Mitchell caught, a bluegill.

I am told he was not that thrilled about touching or holding them. Mitch said they were slimy. I guess at one point the fish was flopping around in the bottom of the boat and then jumped up onto Mitchell seat, and Mitchell promptly jumped right off it, he was a little scared. But he soon got used to these "feisty", that is his word, fish.

When he got home and told me all about how cool it was, i swear that the kid had gained a swagger. He was so pumped full of testosterone and excitement. What a super daddy!

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Mitchell has recently expressed some interest in fishing...one of his new little friends does it often and i think told mitch about it who(M) then thought this sounded like a good idea. Chris used to fish all the time as a kid with his dad and alone, and he took this as a opportunity to share that experience with Mitch.

They bought all that they needed and then went out to a local pond to get their fishing licenses. Mitch could not wait to get started. Chris had him practice casting a few times in the parking lot before he set him loose on the fish, and after two practice casts Chris' words were this, "He is a natural". The kid is very coordinated when it comes to sporty things.

For a little boy that can usually not hold still or be quiet he did this calmly for hours, literally. Once they finished at one pond they headed to a nearby reservoir. And fished some more. Maybe this is going to teach him a little patience. NO, they did not catch anything. Maybe next time. The first thing Mitch asked me this morning was could we go fishing again.

Even Avery got in on things. She patiently waited for her turn, got a lesson from dad on casting and off she went. What was i doing all this time? Well, I found a nice shady spot nearby so that i could watch, took out a magazine and read my lazy afternoon away.

Visitor

Can you see who came calling today?

Yup...a young black bear. One off the first real signs that we live in the middle of nowhere smack in the center of a bunch of "mountains"...woods all around. This is not something i have had to think about before, in terms of backyard safety for the kids.

The bear was not a thrill in Avery's book. Poor thing had a heart attack. She was playing behind the house in the playground when one of the other mom's spotted him and called for all the kids to go inside. She came tearing through the house shouting about a bear. I thought she was playing a game....so i stepped out onto the front porch and oh my goodness, there really was a bear.

She was upset about Chris still being outside taking pictures, crying in the upstairs window, in fact. She actually got closer than any of the rest of us, but she did not know this until after he was gone and she calmed down a little. She and the bear came around the house together just on opposite sides of the street. I suspect he will be around again...he is perched on top of all the garbage cans in this picture....looking for more free food.