Discovering Natural Florida

The other day I took the kiddos to a nature park.  It was really quite beautiful.  I do love where I live and I never get tired of seeing our marsh.

And it was educational.  We found tracks.  Sort of.

And discovered what "made" those tracks.  Well, you know.

And generally had a great time hiking.  Kind of hiking.  Soft core hiking.  On the concrete path.

My point here isn't the awesomness of this activity or the game changing tips I'm going to give you.  My point is that even the most normal activities are pretty amazing for young kids.  Sure, we walked along on concrete.  But for my city kids, we were in the forest.  The for-real forest.  If you live somewhere more rural, you'll have to get your feet a little dirtier to impress, so to speak, but even then, it won't take much.

The tracks we found?  They were the real deal as far as my kids were concerned.  And we did learn a thing or two about the animals that made them.  Or would have made them if we were actually walking along on dirt.  

We learned that our home is also home to the largest rattlesnake in north America (Diamondback Rattlesnake) .  They both loved that idea.  We talked about what to do if we came across that snake in the path (thankfully not a part of our day here).

We had a pretty good time watching the fiddler crabs crawling around the marsh grass in the wet sand.

And running along the boardwalk.

And then it got hot.  Really hot.  Summer is here, folks.  And when summer hits Florida, you'd better be ready.  With lots of water.  We weren't.  So after this shot, we made our way back to the car where our lunches and waters were waiting for us. 

But not before taking this picture.

Why, yes, that is my son picking his nose.  You're welcome for that.

If I was a little more prepared for our field trip, I might have made little books for the kids to "draw" the animals they saw today (which included cardinals, woodpeckers, lizards, and squirrels along with the fiddler crabs), but I didn't.  And you know what?  That's okay.  

Sometimes all it takes is a quick trip out of doors.  Are you guys getting outside lately?  What fun things has your family been up to?

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