We began with our usual picnic lunch. Then the kids were anxious to get moving. We ventured down to the nearby creek to take a look. 
It was flowing much faster and seemed deeper than the last time we were here 2 years ago. The kids couldn't resist. Evan picked up some stones and began tossing them in the water. 
and Sky made a discovery
(which she put back where she found it). 
This week's lesson was on wild flowers. The same very knowledgeable mom taught the children the parts of a plant and the parts of a flower. She also taught about pollination and how flowers grow and tied it in a little bit with the lesson last time on seeds. She had some great handouts, too. The favorite handout was a list of wildflowers we might find in our area, with little photos of each. So the kids were off on their Wildflower Scavenger Hunt. 
There were quite a few beautiful flowers to see and....... lots and lots and I mean LOTS of mud to contend with. But in the spring, at a park such as this, that is to be expected. We tried to stay on the boardwalks and dry-ish land as much as possible, though. 
Of course the most famous wildflower that this park is known for is it's Bluebells. They were everywhere, creating a sea of light blue.
We ended up at another part of the creek and, though it was deep, it wasn't as fast moving. And you can see the many Bluebells on the other side.
(I'll try to identify the ones above a bit later)
Just breathtaking! Evan and I had a moment alone as we walked and I asked him who made this beautiful place. He answered, "God". And I said, "He sure must love us a lot to give us a place as wonderful as this to visit.." Evan agreed. :)
The kids were able to spot many different types of wildflowers, but the Bluebells were definitely the most apparent.
My kids returned to the van tired, happy, thirsty (yes I had water with me) and well....
a bit muddy. But like I said, that's to be expected.
It was flowing much faster and seemed deeper than the last time we were here 2 years ago. The kids couldn't resist. Evan picked up some stones and began tossing them in the water. and Sky made a discovery (which she put back where she found it). This week's lesson was on wild flowers. The same very knowledgeable mom taught the children the parts of a plant and the parts of a flower. She also taught about pollination and how flowers grow and tied it in a little bit with the lesson last time on seeds. She had some great handouts, too. The favorite handout was a list of wildflowers we might find in our area, with little photos of each. So the kids were off on their Wildflower Scavenger Hunt. There were quite a few beautiful flowers to see and....... lots and lots and I mean LOTS of mud to contend with. But in the spring, at a park such as this, that is to be expected. We tried to stay on the boardwalks and dry-ish land as much as possible, though. Of course the most famous wildflower that this park is known for is it's Bluebells. They were everywhere, creating a sea of light blue.We ended up at another part of the creek and, though it was deep, it wasn't as fast moving. And you can see the many Bluebells on the other side.
(I'll try to identify the ones above a bit later)
Just breathtaking! Evan and I had a moment alone as we walked and I asked him who made this beautiful place. He answered, "God". And I said, "He sure must love us a lot to give us a place as wonderful as this to visit.." Evan agreed. :)
The kids were able to spot many different types of wildflowers, but the Bluebells were definitely the most apparent.
My kids returned to the van tired, happy, thirsty (yes I had water with me) and well....
a bit muddy. But like I said, that's to be expected.And well worth it!
Have a wonderful week everyone!
TTFN
~Tina
We learned 4 different ways seeds are planted and what a seed needs to grow. We looked at seeds she brought, right there under the 
(Evan is 
Skylar found one pretty quickly. It was a black walnut (if I remember correctly). 
Evan found one, too. His was tiny and I'm amazed he spotted it. I'm not sure what type of seed his was. 
this flower I have yet to identify.
Our new Nature Club will be meeting in this location. I only have pics of Evan and his group, because the older children were off having a more age appropriate session in another area of the park. But I can assure you they had a great time, too. We even stayed after to picnic together. It was a nice way to end the week.
TTFN
Then he fluttered a bit and landed on a piece of crabapple that was on the ground. Evan and I got to watch Mr. (or Mrs.) Butterfly eat his dinner. You can see his probiscus in the picture below! 
I video taped him eating, but Blogger wouldn't let me upload it, so the pics will have to do. It was really neat, though.
I misplaced my Montessori seashell cards, but plan to print more out tonight, then place those in the box, too.
I let them enjoy that for a bit, then I had them each choose one or two to draw, either from the shells I collected, or from one of the stories. 
They anxiously began. At this point, Evan joined us and was fascinated by the shells, too. 
I talked to him about how the seashells felt and what colors they were. Then I gave him some paper and the sea life stickers along with some colored pencils, so he could "draw" like his sisters.
We will continue with these drawings tomorrow, and label them. I also have a few more interesting seashell stories and books to share with the girls (and possibly Evan) over the next couple of days. Skylar and Alexa will do some fun copywork and decorate it. I'm thinking of having Alexa copy the tongue twister, "She sells seashells by the seashore" but I'll choose a more difficult poem or quote for Skylar. And the girls will narrate one of the stories that we read together this week. All of these things will go into their nature notebooks.
Then prepared the apples...
I put the apples in the pie crust, one layer at a time and sprinkled them with the cinnamon sugar mixture....
At this point I called the girls in to each do a layer. When I make the next pie, I plan on including them more, but this being my first time I wanted to be confident in what I was doing, before having them help.
Taylor did a layer, too, but she didn't want to at first (she was in the middle of something). But she changed her mind at the last minute, and I forgot to pull the camera back out at that moment.
Cover the edges with foil, so they don't burn. Part of my foil came off, but it didn't matter.
The girls (especially Taylor) and I couldn't wait to try it. We ate dinner while the pie was baking and cooling. So once we were ready for it, it was ready for us! The whole house smelled wonderful!
We topped it off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was so good! It tasted very fresh and sweet, with just a little tartness to it. You can play around with how much sugar and cinnamon you want to add. 
The next time I make it, with the girls' help, I plan on reading 