Outdoor Hour Challenge: Autumn Series-Cattails

I have been missing Nature Study with the kids, and finally decided we needed to make room for it again in our busy schedule.  We chose to start with the first of Barb's Autumn Series Challenges and study Cattails because I was certain I knew where to find some.  Our search didn't prove to be as prosperous as I had hoped, but we had a wonderful time nonetheless.  We went to one of our favorite nature study locations, our local river trail.

For some reason I was under the impression that I knew just where there was a large patch of Cattail growing.  We got to the spot and there were no cattails just lots of these plants.  I'm not sure what they are, but they are pretty.

We continued up the river, but never did find any cattails.  We saw lots of golden grass,

and these prickly plants,

but no cattails.  We got to a bend in the path where I told the kids we would turn around if we still didn't find any cattails.  There weren't any there, but we did find a little side path that led us right down to the water's edge.

The kids were thrilled.  Skipping rocks is better than cattails any day. . .

Once the boys depleted the supply of skipping-quality rocks, we headed back.  At the very top of the hill, quite a ways from the water, we finally found one small patch of cattails.

Of course we had to take home a souvenir of our find.

All-in-all it was a very rewarding day.  Spending time in the crisp Autumn air, playing with rocks, searching for an elusive treasure (a.k.a. cattails).  What better way is there to spend a beautiful October afternoon?

Outdoor Hour Challenge Catch-Up #36

It always seems like I am playing catch-up with my Outdoor Hour Challenges, but this time I really got them done on time, I just haven't been able to post them because I couldn't get my pictures off my camera!  Little C.  sucked on the cable that attaches my camera to the computer and it stopped working, so I haven't been able to download any pictures for about a month.  It has been driving me crazy.  I was so upset about not being able to post about these Challenges too, because we were just getting into the swing of things and making some really great connections with our studies.  Well, I finally picked up a new cable so I can post about our challenges now.  Better late than never, right?

Challenge # 36 was a seasonal tree study.  We were supposed to pick a tree back in the summer time and study it in each of the four seasons.  Well, we never picked our tree this summer.  We had an awful year for trees.  My four favorite trees in our yard died this year (two peaches and two redbuds. . .), and I was too depressed about it to pick anything this summer, but fall was the perfect time to begin our tree study.  We surveyed the neighborhood looking for just the right tree to study.  We finally settled on this tree.  

I still haven't figured out what type of tree it is, but it was so interesting that the vote was unanimous.  

We especially loved the leaves.  They look kind of like needles, but were softer than needles.  We loved how they were an orangy-red, with the little bits of green.

When we came home all of the boys actually made entries in their nature-journal!  

I was thrilled.  

They had all gathered a couple of leaves and did leaf rubbings when we got home.

They also drew their own interpretations of the tree.  

They're not Rembrandts yet, but they're on their way. . . .

I will post challenge #37 in a separate entry, but we have really loved this tree focus!

Outdoor Hour Challenge # 33, #34, & #35- Oaks, Maples, and Apples

I am obviously having a hard time staying on top of these challenges, but I am so grateful for them.  The fact that we were behind on these challenges was nagging at me so I decided we should call grandma and go for a hike in our beautiful mountains this week to get caught up.  I am so glad we did! It was such a beautiful day and we had such an enjoyable time enjoying the beauty of the changing leaves, the clean mountain air, and the exercise. 

The first trees we encountered, and by far the most abundant on our hike were oak.  I don't know if this is the official name, but they are called "scrub oak" here and they grow like weeds. 

 

Their leaves were a variegated yellow and green or orange and brown.  I love the distinctive shape of the oak leaves.  The scrub oak does not have an acorn, that I am aware of, but they were beautiful.

We also saw a few maples among the oak.  Their leaves had the most brilliant color.

Next we came to this beautiful stream surrounded by aspens.  We stopped to catch our breath and enjoy the sights and sounds of the stream.

The boys were fascinated by this leaf that appeared to be suspended in mid-air.  It was actually being held aloft by a spider's web.

We loved the huge roots of this tree.  The perfect spot for another rest...

After working up a decent sweat, we finally made it to our destination. The reservoir was beautiful!

We could have stayed here all day, but we had one more stop to make.

We still hadn't seen any apple trees, so we made a stop at Farnsworth Farms.  They have an apple orchard where you can pick your own apples.  

Unfortunately we were about a week too late, but they had plenty of apples that we could buy. They also have their own cider press and sell the most delicious fresh cider ever.  


We also picked up a couple of pumpkins from their pumpkin patch.  

The kids brought home several leaves from our hike, and we all brought home memories of a wonderful day spent enjoying the beauty of God's creations.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #31 & #32 ~Trees~

We're back to blogging and back to Nature Study!  I hadn't mentioned it before, but Barb's "Outdoor Hour Challenges" were another contributing factor to my decision to start blogging again.  For some reason I can't motivate myself to do the things I know I should without some form of outside motivation...  

Well, I could tell we were out of the habit of "Nature Study" because when I mentioned that we were going to start doing nature study again this week I got lots lots of moans and groans from the boys.  I thought we had gotten past that by the end of last school year!  Oh well.  At least I have the hope that they will start looking forward to it again once we get back in the habit.

We decided to combine Challenge 31 & 32 so we wouldn't be behind to start out.  I am really looking forward to this challenge!  I love trees, but I really can identify only a few of them.

Here are some of the trees we saw on our walk down our street today...

This was G.'s favorite.  I believe it is a honey locust tree.  It is one of my favorites too.  I love the delicate leaves.

Here is G. resting in the shade of an apple tree.  This one doesn't have any apples on it, but the one right next to it does. 

I'm not sure why....

On to the Pine...  This tree is over the fence in our back yard.  I think this is an Austrian Pine.  It had two needles per bundle and they were about 3-6 inches long.  The needles were dark green.

I. found a young pincone on the tree that hadn't matured and opened yet.

We also found this pinecone at the base of the tree.  The kids were excited about their finds.  It felt so good to be out enjoying nature again.  We spent a lot of time outside this summer, but most of that was spent at the pool, or riding bikes and playing with the neighbors.  We ended up spending a lot of extra time out doors after we were done with our nature study, just playing and hanging out.  The weather was perfect!

The boys had fun doing crazy poses for me on the trampoline...

H. man,

G.,

and I-mac.  He is still holding his pinecone in his hand! =)

Little C. had fun mastering the slide.

again,

and again,

and again,

and again...

Then she and I-mac found some treats on our yellow-raspberry bush.

I-mac is such a good big brother.

Little C. had so many I was worried she might get sick...

They really are good though.  If you haven't tried the yellow variety, you really should get one.

Sorry this has turned into such a long post.  I guess I have harbored a lot of pent up blogging in the past three months, and I just needed to get it out...  (I also took 80 pictures today.  What fun!) All-in-all it was a wonderful day.  It's amazing what a little outdoor time can turn into!