Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Another Outdoor Experience

Hello,

The weather was almost perfect while Sarah and the girls were here. On the second day, besides riding, that two seated bike we went to a county park called Wickiup Hill with a Learning Center. Besides being interesting to adults, especially if you want to read every sign, it was definitely aimed at children, providing many hands on experiences. We spent quite a bit of time in the building as well as the bird blind where we saw many goldfinches that still have their winter colors.

Once outside we saw a turtle crossing the road. The specimen retreated when the girls got too close, however it came back out of its small melon sized shell when they stood still and waited patiently. For a turtle it had a bit of speed on land although probably not as fast as the rabbit these girls chased.

On a few reeds in the wetland area, they spotted a small snake enjoying the nice warm weather. We were able to get quite close to it as well. Then on a railing,a someone spotted a frog or toad that remained quiet and watchful as we inspected it.

After all of that we took a nice walk through the woods, noticing many early spring wildflowers, some were familiar and some not. The signs on the trails also give quite a lot of information about the natural habitat and the human history in this area. These walks take me back to my childhood on the Illinois farm where much entertainment was to be found just walking around amid the trees and finding flowers or animals. Leroy and I noted, before the bushes sprout leaves thickly making seeing difficult, where the black raspberries were so we can come back when they are ripe and pick some.


Paula

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