Chick Love ~ Fuzzy Baby Overload

We brought in some of the babies so that we could cuddle and love them and somehow it turned into a bit of a photo shoot. I just couldn't help myself!

In my defense though I did warn you that I might go a little chick crazy... but could you resist such an adorable little ball of fluff?!

I thought not *grin*.

Such sweet little girls :) They were so content to just hang out in the little dishes we put them in so we could ooh and ahh over them *grin*. After a while they got a little more adventurous and started hopping in and out and checking out the flowers. They didn't stray far though and they are so incredibly docile to. We can pick them up and cuddle them and they don't squirm or try to fly out like past chicks we've had.

Of course it was inevitable that there would be a little 'incident'. At least they kept it on the paper that I had put down for just that exact reason *grin*.

Hugs,
Rosina

Taking In The Beauty Surrounding Us

Talk about disbelief this morning! This was the scenery that greeted me when I looked out the kitchen window as I made breakfast. It didn't last long but it has brought below zero temperatures again despite the gorgeous sunshine that graced us today :)

I wanted to treat the kids today so we went down to the little corner store and they got to pick out a little candy and we drove the end of the road where it narrows and stops abruptly...

where the wooden planks and rocky edges join as one with the Johnstone Strait :)

The hues of blue welcomed us and the icy wind whipped around the car but the view was divine. We are so blessed to live only minutes from the ocean. It has to be my favorite place on earth to be :)

So while the kids munched on their treats I enjoyed the weekend edition of the paper...

and they all took turns using the binoculars to look for ships and signs of whales and seals. We had an amazing experience of seeing one of the young bald eagles testing out its hunting skills as it swooped down and attempted to snatch a fish from the ocean's surface! It missed but still very cool :)

Crew boats heading out to the nearby camps had a bit of a bumpy and lumpy trip today as they crashed their way across the strait through the white caps and I was just happy. Oh so happy taking the beauty in around me and listening to the giggles in the backseat :)

Hugs,
Rosina

The Finale ~ Outdoor Challenge Day 25

It's hard to believe that today is the final day of April and the end of the Outdoor Nature Challenge in recognition of Children & Nature Awareness Month! We have met so many other fabulous like minded nature families, made it outside through rain, hail, wind and sunshine *grin*, and had a ton of fun doing it :)

So as a wind up I thought that I would share some of the photos from throughout the month that didn't make it into our daily entries :)

We've picked dandelion's by the basketful...

Plowed, planted and rolled in the potato patch...

Spied on the cows through the grass...

Played in the rain...

Discovered hidden pathways through the shrubbery that I used to play in as a little girl...

Built forts out of yard furniture and toys...

And reveled in the beauty of nature :)

I hope you all had fun following along and spent some time immersed in the outdoors yourselves!
~ Rosina

Children & Nature Awareness Month + A Challenge

A couple of months ago I had shared with you about one of my favorite authors, Richard Louv, who wrote the fantastic book 'Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder'. It's a look at how we've gone from you and I spending endless hours outdoors creating our own fun, playing in the woods, building forts or exploring nature to the current generation of children that are completely disconnected from the outdoors and spending more time inside with electronic gadgets and how it's so very important to make sure we are connecting our children with nature!

Well Richard has declared that April is 'Children and Nature Awareness Month' and today I happened to come across a new blog called 5 Orange Potatoes where she has challenged her readers to join her and participate in her Great Outdoors Challenge!

The challenge:
“in honor of Children and Nature Awareness Month, go outside everyday, rain or shine; then take a picture each day, for the rest of April, of your children outdoors and post it. Just a single picture will do; words aren’t even necessary. Lets spread the word and go outdoors!“

I am so up for this challenge as I am a firm believer that nature needs to be part of our day to day interactions and it just happens that I snapped a shot of my daughter above outdoors today as she munched on a rather large chocolate bunny that my sister gave her for Easter. All that sugar definitely had her singing in the rain *grin* and even the rain couldn't stop her from heading outside and enjoying nature :)

If you haven't heard of Richard Louv or his book 'Last Child in the Woods' then make sure you take a moment to visit an entry I shared in February that links to a live webcast of him speaking about his book, some of the statistics between nature and children, now and in the past, stories from the book plus more, and has an open Q&A at the end.

If you want to join in make sure you check out The Great Outdoors Challenge and you can also visit other participants and see what sort of nature fun they have been having by clicking on the names below :)

~ Rosina

Fellow Nature Players: lisa, sanders, angelina, phyllis, sarah, christie, jennifer, debbie, dong dong, denise, luisa, joy, stephanie, cori, alex, dawn, kristen, catherine, tricia, becky, christy, ruth, kari, courtney, branflakes, jessica, renee, haiku, brynn, amy, clemencia, sherry, leslie, lise, renee, anet, jenn, marina, amy, ella, marcia, karen, beth, julie, kyndale, kelly, lizzie, eileen, ag, mari-ann, cindy, robin, nicole, debbie, julia, renee, anita, lisa, jenn, montessori, marita, jeannie, hallie, mandy, kangaroo, andrea, joey, carmen, teena, stephinie