nature walk

We had an amazing nature walk today. The weather was warm. The sky was clear. It was a great time to be outside.

Entering the gardens we saw the "Snakes" sign. When we first saw this sign from a distance last week, Sparkle immediate got excited because she wanted to see a snake. I burst out laughing, because, of course the sign is warning parents and kids to stay away from any snakes. When I told Wander about the incident, he wanted a picture of the sign. So, this week I took a picture of the sign.



Next, we went in search of the Honey Locust tree at the gardens that Wander wanted pictures of. We asked at the office and got very clear directions. (The girls also got their customary hand stamps.) The Honey Locust tree is a really funky tree. It has spikes growing out of its trunk. I had Sparkle take a mental picture of the tree and recite the name a few times so that some weekend she can show Wander the tree, even if I'm not around.



Then Sparkle spotted a Yucca plant. I don't know why she's interested in this plant. Wander probably told her something neat about it.



Next we sat on the swing. We didn't even play the observation game. Glitter wanted to draw, and soon after Sparkle wanted to as well. Sparkle drew a bean from the Honey Locust pod.



As the girls were swinging and drawing, one of the rangers in the park walked by and asked us if we wanted to see a snake. Sure! (See beginning of post.) The ranger led us through the gardens to one of the small ponds. Sitting on a log dam was a large snake, sunning itself.



The ranger had Sparkle identify the snake based on a set of snake pictures that he had. It was a diamond-back water snake. Both girls watched the snake for a while. Sparkle drew it. Although the snake was coiled up and we couldn't get a good view of it's head, Sparkle drew the snake stretched out. As she explained, she didn't know how to draw a snake coiled up. Sparkle also drew the snake with a forked tongue sticking out.

Then Sparkle and the ranger had a rather lengthy discussion about snakes. Turns out that Sparkle knows more about snakes than I realized. It must be all those snake books that she checks out of the library that I never see her read. Now, thanks to the ranger, she knows even more.



After the snake discussion, we got to watch a squirrel with a bushy tail spring back and forth from a small tree to the top of a bird-feeder, totally ignoring the anti-squirrel device on the bottom of the post of the bird-feeder.



On the way out I tried to get some pictures of the girls. They look so cute running through the gardens in their long dresses and flip-flops. I also pointed out some paving bricks with names and dates in them, and we had a mini social studies lesson.



I love our Monday afternoons. Sparkle even made some decent book choices at the library today.