Spring/Time to Get Outside
At the end of this week, according to the calendar, spring will officially have sprung. And, miraculously here in Minnesota in March, we are actually experiencing some springlike weather. Early in the week last week, we still had mammoth snowdrifts everywhere. (Really; they have been causing parking issues because there is so much snow in parking lots that the drifts have, in certain places, taken over an entire row of parking spaces.) But then the weather began warming, the rain began raining, and, this weekend, the sun shone! Although we do still have patches of snow here and there, it mostly melted in the course of a week. Our backyard sandbox went from being "possibly under that one mound" of a snowy backyard, to being completely visible!
And, this weekend, we went for a walk that "coincidentally" led us by our neighborhood park -- which was actually open (earlier in the week, you couldn't even get through the driveway to get to the playground because it was so full of unplowed snow) and had kids playing there. There was a lot of playing, climbing, swinging, sliding and playing "tag" with a couple of four-year-old boys. (None of them actually follow the "rules"; this involves running around sort of near each other and shouting "tag you're it" occasionally.) And, of course, finding one of those few remaining patches of snow and slip-sliding into it to fall flat on our velvet-skirted rear. And then being unconvinced that she could remove the wet skirt because, after all, she was wearing red plaid pants underneath (because she'd been told to put pants on before we went outside). She did, however, remove the purple zip-up hoodie with the horse on it, because she got hot, to reveal the sparkly pink Hello Kitty shirt. Accessorized with Dora the Explorer tennis shoes and a yellow plaid headband, worn so that it encircles the head with the bow in the middle of the forehead, between the eyebrows.
I think the hour or more we spent at the park counted toward the Be Outside movement from the National Wildlife Federation for which we've signed the pledge, the idea being to encourage kids to get outside.
National Wildlife Federation: Pledge to Be Out There
Signing up also gets you emails and downloads with suggested activities, like a Family Passport for National Wildlife Week, which is this week, and a nature scavenger hunt, which was the "purpose" for our walk.
We found some leaves, sticks, pinecones, pine needles and maple seeds on the sidewalks of our neighborhood, but we didn't see any bugs or birds yet. (We did eventually hear some birds, but never spotted them.) Spring might have started springing around here, but it's not particularly lush and green yet -- more like brown, muddy in patches, highlighted with puddles and dirty snow. Still, it's warm, it's fun to be outside, and I can see the nicer weather -- and hopefully more simple nature activities -- coming.
And, this weekend, we went for a walk that "coincidentally" led us by our neighborhood park -- which was actually open (earlier in the week, you couldn't even get through the driveway to get to the playground because it was so full of unplowed snow) and had kids playing there. There was a lot of playing, climbing, swinging, sliding and playing "tag" with a couple of four-year-old boys. (None of them actually follow the "rules"; this involves running around sort of near each other and shouting "tag you're it" occasionally.) And, of course, finding one of those few remaining patches of snow and slip-sliding into it to fall flat on our velvet-skirted rear. And then being unconvinced that she could remove the wet skirt because, after all, she was wearing red plaid pants underneath (because she'd been told to put pants on before we went outside). She did, however, remove the purple zip-up hoodie with the horse on it, because she got hot, to reveal the sparkly pink Hello Kitty shirt. Accessorized with Dora the Explorer tennis shoes and a yellow plaid headband, worn so that it encircles the head with the bow in the middle of the forehead, between the eyebrows.
I think the hour or more we spent at the park counted toward the Be Outside movement from the National Wildlife Federation for which we've signed the pledge, the idea being to encourage kids to get outside.
National Wildlife Federation: Pledge to Be Out There
Signing up also gets you emails and downloads with suggested activities, like a Family Passport for National Wildlife Week, which is this week, and a nature scavenger hunt, which was the "purpose" for our walk.
We found some leaves, sticks, pinecones, pine needles and maple seeds on the sidewalks of our neighborhood, but we didn't see any bugs or birds yet. (We did eventually hear some birds, but never spotted them.) Spring might have started springing around here, but it's not particularly lush and green yet -- more like brown, muddy in patches, highlighted with puddles and dirty snow. Still, it's warm, it's fun to be outside, and I can see the nicer weather -- and hopefully more simple nature activities -- coming.