Our new favorite nature outing is to take a walk together with our cameras. Provide a child with a camera, and he’ll see the world in a different way. Every day while in Yosemite National Park last week, my son begged us to take him outside to photograph the flowers. Obviously, Yosemite naturally calls to … Continue reading »
Reblogged from Nature Mom: I’ve been entered in the Circle of Mom’s Top 25 Photographer Moms contest. In order to be placed in the top 25, I need your help. Please take a moment to vote.. it will truly only take a few seconds of your time! Click on this link… http://www.circleofmoms.com/top25/Top-25-Photographer-Moms-2012 Scroll down to … Continue reading »
Our first day in Yosemite, my five-year-old and I took a walk to check out the wildflowers. I was impressed with his enthusiasm. First, he exclaimed, ” Look! Milkweed!!!” Then a bit later, “And Indian Paintbrush!!” These little blue butterflies were fluttering about everywhere. Magical… Continue reading »
We’ve been in Yosemite for the past week without Internet access. We’re home now, and I’ll catch up with you all as soon as I can! Hope you had a great week!! This is the view from the top of Sentinel Dome… a great hike to do with kids! Continue reading »
We enjoyed a lovely visit with my mom this weekend. A few photos from our walks around the yard… Continue reading »
Luckily, my son is observant. I would’ve missed this if it weren’t for him. While at my parent’s house over the weekend, my son and I were sent down to the garden to pick a fresh zucchini. I asked my son to look in the plant to see if he could find the best one … Continue reading »
The California Towhee family has been hanging out in our backyard for months and months, but I’ve been struggling to capture a photograph of the little guys. They like to hop around on the ground, eating the seeds the other birds have knocked out of the feeder. This is also the bird who ate all … Continue reading »
Camping out tonight in my parent’s backyard… super fun! Continue reading »
After spending the morning at the beach (Celebrating the Summer Solstice, Part 1, Shorebird Park, Berkeley ), we headed into the Oakland Hills for an afternoon bike ride at Redwood Regional Park. One of my favorite ways to escape the heat on a hot summer day is to escape into the redwoods! The paved trail … Continue reading »
I’ve been entered in the Circle of Mom’s Top 25 Photographer Moms contest. In order to be placed in the top 25, I need your help. Please take a moment to vote.. it will truly only take a few seconds of your time! Click on this link… http://www.circleofmoms.com/top25/Top-25-Photographer-Moms-2012 Scroll down to find “A Nature Mom” … Continue reading »
We celebrated the Summer Solstice yesterday with two awesome nature outings. The first? Beach play with friends at Shorebird Park in Berkeley. I’ve been wanting to visit this park for a while now, as this is where the famous Adventure Playground (considered by National Geographic to be one of the top ten playgrounds in the … Continue reading »
As an alternative to the local park or nature area, one of our favorite places for some quality outdoor playtime is the Oakland Zoo. The weather today was much cooler than expected (in the 70s instead of the 100s, as it was a few days ago in the Bay Area). Perfect weather for a late … Continue reading »
Early yesterday morning, while waiting for the water for my tea to boil, my son brought me to wakefulness by loudly exclaiming… “THE COYOTE! THE COYOTE! MOMMY! GET THE CAMERA! IT’S THE COYOTE!” I had to move fast… Here are my pre-caffeine photos of the coyote hunting for his breakfast on the hill behind our … Continue reading »
Butano State Park… I love this place! It’s a short drive from our home in the San Francisco East Bay, as it takes us little over an hour to reach Pescadero. The campground is small, quiet, tucked away in a canyon filled with redwoods. Camping here is an annual tradition for us, and is usually … Continue reading »
As part of our annual summer camping trip to Butano State Park, our tradition is to go strawberry picking at our favorite organic u-pik farm, Swanton Berry Farm, located just south of Pescadero (or north of Santa Cruz). This is an easy day trip from the Bay Area, and great to incorporate into a visit … Continue reading »
On our way back to the car from the San Francisco Botanical Garden (see post from yesterday), we took a little detour to visit Stow Lake. We first discovered the lake on a visit to Golden Gate Park a few weeks ago. Now, how did we “discover” a lake that’s been there since 1893? Let … Continue reading »
My husband, a 5th grade teacher, is now on vacation for the summer. We celebrated the beginning of the season with a family trip to the San Francisco Botanical Garden, located in Golden Gate Park. Neither my husband nor I had been here before, so we were excited to explore. The second Tuesday of each … Continue reading »
Reblogged from LEARN FROM NATURE: Three times more children and youth getting outdoors in nature from 2009 to 2011—some good from Children & Nature Network (C&NN) survey! The 2011 Children & Nature Network (C&NN) survey of grassroots leaders of regional, statewide and provincial campaigns shows a three-fold increase in the number of children and youth … Continue reading »
I just realized my post yesterday (My Childhood Play… My Love of Nature) was my 100th! I remember only a few months ago, being on post number two, wondering what I’d write about to get me to ten. Now I can’t seem to stop… I’ve been blessed with a wonderful group of readers, and today … Continue reading »
This is the backyard of my childhood home. These are the places I played as a child, building forts, climbing trees, scaling mountains, running from dinosaurs, becoming a world explorer, digging like an archaeologist, wading in the creek, catching crawdads, watching frogs lay eggs, and observing the development of pollywogs. This was the play of … Continue reading »
My five-year-old son has a new hobby. Bird watching. About a week or so ago, once a day, he began telling me, “I’m going into the backyard to watch the birds.” Then he’ll proceed to sit quietly, completely still for 20-30 minutes, waiting for birds to appear. Well, a few days ago, he excitedly ran … Continue reading »
This morning we attended the 13th Annual Butterfly and Bird Festival, held at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont. We’ve attended this event the past two years, too, and this just may be my son’s favorite festival. It’s kind of funny, since my son isn’t usually into doing crafty type activities, but he absolutely LOVES … Continue reading »
My mom’s birthday was this week, and this is for her. Happy 81st, Mom! Happy Saturday to everyone else! Continue reading »
Another great Outdoor Discoveries outing! Today, the naturalist took the kids up the Ringtail Cat Trail into Las Trampas Regional Park for a “beanstalk lunch hike” to learn about vines. This is another of my favorite trails in the area, especially on a hot summer day, as the trail winds above a creek through a … Continue reading »
Yesterday afternoon, we attended a festival held by the East Bay Regional Park District at Shadow Cliffs in celebration of the Transit 0f Venus. While checking out the sun through the telescopes was pretty cool, the highlight for my son (other than playing in the trees with his friends) was making s’mores in a pizza … Continue reading »
A favorite rainy day activity… head outside to look for snails! My son calls them his “snail buddies”. What we found yesterday during a rare June rain shower…. Continue reading »
The Martin Canyon Creek Trail is my favorite spot to hike in Dublin. It’s even better now that the trail has been cut through to connect with the Dublin Hills Regional Park. Dublin gets pretty hot in the summer, and this is the only place to hike in the city that has shade. The trail … Continue reading »
It’s been more than a week since we’ve seen our resident turkeys. I don’t know where they go over the summer, but I know they’ll return in the fall! They always do. A pair, on the hill… The one who visits us on our fence each day in the spring and fall… My son and … Continue reading »
Yesterday we had the opportunity to see Tony Hawk and other professional skateboarders perform, as part of the opening festivities of the new Tony Hawk Rad Science exhibit at the Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS). All I can say is… it was awesome. Here’s the event description from the LHS website… “Watch Tony Hawk, along … Continue reading »
Did you know boys enjoy tea parties, too? Friday afternoon, my son walked downstairs carrying his tea set and suggested we have a tea party in the backyard. Well, why not? We cleaned up the dishes, I made us some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and he set the table outside. Believe it or not, … Continue reading »
